Data Management and Data Products of a Daily Optical Communications Ground Station for Laser Communications Relay Demonstration

The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission is the first NASA end-to-end optical relay. The project has been operating since the Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft launch in December, 2021. The aim of this project is to show the feasibility of optical communications as a high-bandwidth service provider for NASA from geo-synchronous orbit to ground. This capability has been demonstrated through a long-term study of performance over time and varying channel conditions. Optical Ground Station 1 (OGS-1), located at Table Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, CA, has supported first-light and commissioning, and the current experiment phase, covering the recent three-year period on a largely daily operational cadence. Configured links include relays with Optical Ground Station 2 (OGS-2) in Haleakala, Hawaii and ground-to-satellite loopbacks. This paper discusses the considerations behind OGS-1 data management and its development over the course of operations. An experimental scenario is described wherein this embedded system is demonstrated.