{
  "abstract": "Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) promise order-of-magnitude reductions in the size, weight and power (SWaP) of optical subsystems for astronomy, planetary and Earth-observation missions, yet no PIC-specific space-qualification standard exists. This paper consolidates the principal NASA and ESA qualification documents that apply, or can be tailored, to astrophotonic PICs --- arrayed waveguide gratings, photonic lanterns, fibre Bragg gratings, and integrated beam combiners (ABCD, discrete beam combiners, nullers) for spectrographs and stellar interferometers. A master qualification table lists 19 standard test steps with applicable standards and EU/USA test facilities. Two reference mission profiles --- a LEO smallsat demonstrator and an HWO-class Lagrange-2 flagship --- yield a tailoring matrix, while a TRL-versus-test-coverage roadmap maps each activity onto the NASA/ESA readiness levels and review gates. A survey of UV/visible/near-infrared platforms relates spectral coverage, maturity and flight heritage, and a radiation-effects summary shows passive silica, Si3N4 and laser-written cores are essentially radiation-tolerant while active III--V and Ge devices carry the hardness burden. The central outcome is a seven-phase qualification template (PIC-SQT) with explicit TRL gates, exact test procedures and mission-class tailoring; we further identify qualification processes relevant to PICs that current standards do not cover, and document 40+ years of optical-fibre flight heritage.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2608.00834",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Kalaga Madhav"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aashia Rahman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Máté Ádámkovics"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/es0bpm8ytn14k.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2608.00834",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "es0bpm8ytn14k",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00834",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.IM"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2208|Space Technology and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7172392212",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.00834",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-27",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/es0bpm8ytn14k.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "2608.00834",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00834"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.IM",
      "subfield": "instrumentation-methods"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Qualification pathways for Photonic Integrated Circuits in Astrophotonic Space Missions",
  "title_text": "Qualification pathways for Photonic Integrated Circuits in Astrophotonic Space Missions",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/es0bpm8ytn14k",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}