MOCA | ESA CSC

Competitiveness & Growth

Status

Ongoing
Status date

2024-07-18
Activity Code

6C.044

Objectives

The MOCA project develops cost-effective optical antennas in the diameter range of 1m -2m. The objective is to provide to the market high-performance optical antennas for applications where throughput and signal quality will matter: optical communications between earth and LEO, GEO or moon orbit, or Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) between a LEO or GEO satellite and earth,..

Next to the optical antenna, the project includes the design and development of a dedicated Back-end Optical Conditioner (BOC) attached to the antenna. The BOC shapes the light beam before supplying it to the receiver (or optical fiber). The BOC includes adaptive optics, optical elements for tracking purposes and is suited for optical communications or QKD applications.

In the MOCA project, the BOC is:

Implemented into the existing AMOS SALTO telescope.
Used for Quantum Key Distribution with at least 1 satellite validating and verified in-situ.

Challenges

The following challenges are identified for the project:

Development of an optical antenna as cost-effective product
Development and integration of a robust adaptive optics system
Development of a robust PAT system for optical communications
Validation of these systems in an actual QKD context.

Benefits

The MOCA project aims at offering the market:

A dedicated medium size commercial optical antenna instead of an astronomical telescope modified to support optical communications and QKD.
A cost-efficient, reliable and high performance (larger throughput and lower error rate) optical antenna meeting the demands of telecommunication operators.

Features

The final product is an optical antenna (i.e. a telescope modified to fit the application needs and cost targets), in line with the high-end AMOS market positioning. The product is independent from any specific network: it interfaces with external optical communication equipment (or QKD processing equipment) by implementing a modular back-end optical conditioner (BOC). The BOC features adaptive optics to optimise throughput.

The antenna is offered as a product, with possible options or customisations and installation services.

System Architecture

The overall MOCA system architecture is provided in the image below:

Plan

The project phases are:

1. Definition Phase. Requirements and interfaces are developed resulting in a optical antenna baseline concept. This phase includes a MTR and phase completion review.

2. Technology Phase. Preliminary and detailed design of an optical antenna is performed with a PDR and CDR. The BOC is implemented and validated for QKD satellite communication with the AMOS SALTO telescope. The phase is concluded with a TRB and FR.

Current status

The project has started in August 2023 and the development phase has been completed The requirements baseline for an optical antenna, a concept design as well as the design of the Back Optical Conditioner have been developed. The Technology phase has started in April 2024