System Design and Cost Model Comparisons of High-Speed Data Relay Infrastructure Using Optical Communication Between Earth and Moon

Abstract

As the demand for high-speed and stable cislunar communication systems increases, optical communication is expected to be a means to realize such demand because its transmission speed per laser power is higher than that of conventional radio frequency (RF) communication. This study analyzed the design variables to minimize the total cost in the system design of the infrastructure using optical communication. The total cost of the direct cislunar optical communication model was newly formulated by setting the cost model for the production, transportation, and operation to be considered for its sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, for the communication stations located on the backside of the moon that never face the Earth, this study compared the relay satellite models of both the lunar circular orbit type and the L2 halo orbit type to find the total cost of the latter is relatively low by those cost model calculations.