Vibration Influence on Hit Probability During Beaconless Spatial Acquisition

Starting November 2007 and continuing through the present, Tesat-Spacecom has been conducting successfully optical intersatellite communication links utilizing laser communication payloads built by Tesat-Spacecom under DLR funding. A total of four communication payloads are in space at the time of writing. Also optical space-to-ground communication links have been successfully conducted using a compatible ground terminal built by Tesat-Spacecom and the ESA Optical Ground Station on Tenerife. All terminals are using a beaconless spatial acquisition algorithm which was developed by Tesat-Spacecom for intersatellite communication links. We present an analytical investigation on the influence of vibrations deferring the laser beam search pattern on the receiving probability of the counter terminal. A Gaussian distribution of the vibrations is assumed. Results are presented here and compared to computer simulations to verify the analytical results. The influence of link margin and slave terminal position in the scan field on hit probability is addressed.