Abstract
We report on an interferometer designed to provide displacement measurement resolution, in the range to , while in low Earth orbit. The interferometer comprises two units, each with its own laser and in separate satellites, which would be in the same orbit separated by approximately . We discuss the requirements on the interferometer subsystem and describe the optical transponder distance measurement, including a phase locking method to generate a heterodyne beat signal between the two lasers. Design, fabrication, and testing of a “flightlike” engineering model interferometer is outlined, and results from environmental and performance tests are reported.
© 2008 Optical Society of America
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