Prediction of ionizing radiation effects induced performance degradation in homodyne BPSK based inter-satellite optical communication systems

Ionizing radiation effects induced on-orbit performance degradation in homodyne binary phase shift keying (BPSK) based inter-satellite optical communication system is predicted in this paper. Essential optoelectronic devices involved in optical communication system were irradiated by Co60 gamma ray and ionizing radiation environment of three general orbits was analyzed. On this basis, variations of terminal performance loss and system BER degradation along with on-orbit working time were simulated. Influences of terminal location and orbit environment were further discussed. Radiation protection on laser transmitters requires more strengthening, especially for those located in MEO and GEO satellites.