11/06/2026
By Lynne Schaufenbil
Please join the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST) for “Infrared Optics: Practical Considerations for System Design,” a talk by Joshua Brown of Anduril Imaging.
- Date: Thursday, Nov. 12
- Time: 11 a.m.
Abstract
Optical communications between satellites have been broadly recognized as a valuable solution to problems of frequency-space congestion, data interception and SWAP efficiency. However, even in the era of low-cost, proliferated LEO satellites, the majority of system architectures consider only intersatellite links. Data communication to the ground has still relied on radios. The TBIRD NASA mission aimed to demonstrate low-cost, low-SWAP, high-data-rate transfer from LEO to ground. The mission parameters required the development of a highly stable, simple spacecraft terminal and the construction of a more capable ground terminal. This talk will focus on the practical implementation of low-cost test methods, first-principles design solutions and recovery paths for as-built hardware issues, both for the compact space terminal and the low-cost ground station.
Bio
Joshua Brown is a staff optical engineer and the optical engineering manager at Anduril Imaging in Waltham, Massachusetts, where his work focuses primarily on space-based and airborne high-performance MWIR and LWIR optical systems for national defense applications. Prior to joining Anduril, he worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he focused on high-performance space optics, and earlier he worked at L3 SSG on proliferated Earth imaging systems. He holds a B.S. in physics and astronomy from the University of Rochester, an M.S. in materials science from the University of Rochester, and an M.S. in physics from UMass Lowell. He is a longtime council member of the New England Section of Optica.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Lynne_Schaufenbil@uml.edu.