As small and nanosatellites become increasingly relevant in the aerospace industry1, 2, the need of efficient, lightweight
and cost-effective networking solutions drives the need for the development of lightweight and low cost networking and
communication terminals.
In this paper we propose the design and prototype results of a hybrid optical and radio communication architecture
developed to fit the coarse pointing capabilities of nanosatellites, tested through a proxy flight experiment on
stratospheric balloons. This system takes advantage of the higher data-rate offered by optical communication channels
while relying on the more mature and stable technology of conventional radio systems for link negotiation and
low-speed data exchange.
Such architecture allows the user to overcome the licensing requirements and scarce availability of high data-rate
radio frequency channels in the commonly used bands.
Outlined are the architecture, development and test of the mentioned terminal, with focus on the communication part and
supporting technologies, including the navigation algorithm, the developed fail-safe approach, and the evolution of the
pointing system continuing previous work done in 3.
The system has been built with commercial-off-the-shelf components and demonstrated on a stratospheric balloon
launch campaign.
The paper outlines the results of an in-flight demonstration, where the two platforms successfully established an
optical link at stratospheric altitudes. The results are then analyzed and contextualized in plans of future work for
nanosatellite implementations.
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