Research on Integrated Technologies for Space Target Imaging, Ranging, and Communication

The integration requirements of laser ranging, imaging, and communication functions in space target detection have placed higher demands on system performance. This paper takes a modularly designed integrated laser ranging, imaging, and communication system as an example and proposes a light source integration scheme based on fiber phased array beam splitting–coupling technology, effectively enhancing the system’s integration level and compactness. The system employs a Cassegrain optical system and beam splitting structure to achieve functional integration of laser communication, ranging, and polarization imaging. Ground experiments were conducted to evaluate the functional feasibility of the proposed integrated architecture. The visible light polarization imaging experiments at kilometer-level distances demonstrate that polarization-derived information can improve target–background separability under haze and low-contrast conditions. The UAV-based dynamic ranging experiment verifies that the system can acquire, track, and range a moving cooperative target under the tested field conditions, with the measured results being consistent with the designed meter-level ranging requirement. In addition, a 1 km coherent free-space laser communication experiment achieved 20 Gbps QPSK signal transmission with a bit error rate on the order of 10−7. These results provide experimental support and design references for integrated optoelectronic terminals used in space target observation, space debris monitoring, and related long-distance sensing and communication applications.