Experimental demonstration of an on-axis laser ranging interferometer for future gravity missions
Abstract
We experimentally demonstrate an interferometric architecture for next-generation gravity missions, featuring a laser ranging interferometer (LRI) that enables monoaxial transmission and reception of laser beams between two optical benches with a heterodyne frequency of 7.3 MHz. Active beam-steering loops, utilizing differential wavefront sensing signals, ensure coalignment between the receiving beam and the transmitting beam. With spacecraft attitude jitter simulated by hexapod-driven rotations, the interferometric link achieves a pointing stability below 10μrad/Hz in the frequency range between 0.2 mHz and 0.5 Hz, and the fluctuation of the transmitting beam’s polarization state results in a reduction of 0.14% in the carrier-to-noise-density ratio over a 15 h continuous measurement. Additionally, tilt-to-length coupling is experimentally investigated using the periodic scanning of the hexapod. Experimental results show that the on-axis LRI enables the interspacecraft ranging measurements with nanometer accuracy, making it a potential candidate for future GRACE-like missions.
Details
- Organisation(s)
-
PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines
- External Organisation(s)
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Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
University of Arizona
- Type
- Article
- Journal
- Physical review applied
- Volume
- 25
- ISSN
- 2331-7019
- Publication date
- 15.04.2026
- Publication status
- Published
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy
- Electronic version(s)
-
https://doi.org/10.1103/5r3c-9n8z (Access:
Open
)
