Space qualified solid state laser transmitter-LITE/LTM

In the fall of 1993 the space shuttle Atlantis will carry a neodymium:YAG laser transmitter module (LTM) as part of the NASA Langley Research Center´s Lidar In Space Technology Experiment (LITE). Spectron has designed, fabricated, verified, and space qualified the laser transmitter module for LITE. Although it is a flashlamp pumped, Q -switch, Nd:YAG system design for lidar applications, much of its design, engineering, and space qualification are directly applicable to space-based communication lasers. The author presents some of the applicable LITE/LTM elements