Using top-hat beam to improve the performance of the inter-satellite laser communication

The profile of transmitting beams in inter-satellite optical links significantly impacts communication performance, shaping the general Gaussian transmitting beam into a far field top-hat profile may improve the performance of the inter-satellite laser communication system. The calculations show that this scheme would at least reduce beaconless acquisition time by nearly 63%, and may reduce the outage probability of communication link several orders of magnitude. In addition, the tracking error allowance of communication terminals would at least increase to 1.65 times while keep communication link stable. Use of top-hat beam is quite helpful to build and operate robust inter-satellite optical communication terminals at lower technical risks and cost.