Initial modeling and testbed feasibility studies of WaveDriver: a laser guide star AO system for HWO
Abstract
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will require >100× greater wavefront stability than achieved by JWST, pushing conventional telescope architectures to picometer-level performance limits. WaveDriver is a mission concept that relaxes these constraints by employing an external laser guide star (LGS) spacecraft flying in formation with HWO to enable wavefront sensing and control. Early results from the High Contrast Testbed demonstrate feasibility of required stability using coronagraphs, multiple deformable mirrors, and a suite of wavefront sensors. We report mission design analyses, initial testbed stability metrics, compare sensor performance, and present an optical model that quantifies LGS brightness, conjugation errors, and field errors arising from finite beacon separation.
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BibTeX
@misc{sanchez2026initial,
title = {{Initial modeling and testbed feasibility studies of WaveDriver: a laser guide star AO system for HWO}},
author = {Dominic F. Sanchez and Benjamin L. Gerard and Peter Waswa and Alex Geringer-Smith and Aditya Sengupta and Alexx Perloff and Michael Messerly and William Moore and Matthew Cook and Paul Pax and Cesar Laguna and Mathew DeMartino and Kevin Bundy and Rebecca Jensen-Clem and Aaron Lemmer and S. Mark Ammons and Megan Eckart and Lisa Poyneer and Eric Strang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.22556},
eprint = {2609.22556},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22556},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Initial modeling and testbed feasibility studies of WaveDriver: a laser guide star AO system for HWO
AU - Dominic F. Sanchez
AU - Benjamin L. Gerard
AU - Peter Waswa
AU - Alex Geringer-Smith
AU - Aditya Sengupta
AU - Alexx Perloff
AU - Michael Messerly
AU - William Moore
AU - Matthew Cook
AU - Paul Pax
AU - Cesar Laguna
AU - Mathew DeMartino
AU - Kevin Bundy
AU - Rebecca Jensen-Clem
AU - Aaron Lemmer
AU - S. Mark Ammons
AU - Megan Eckart
AU - Lisa Poyneer
AU - Eric Strang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.22556
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22556
AB - The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will require >100× greater wavefront stability than achieved by JWST, pushing conventional telescope architectures to picometer-level performance limits. WaveDriver is a mission concept that relaxes these constraints by employing an external laser guide star (LGS) spacecraft flying in formation with HWO to enable wavefront sensing and control. Early results from the High Contrast Testbed demonstrate feasibility of required stability using coronagraphs, multiple deformable mirrors, and a suite of wavefront sensors. We report mission design analyses, initial testbed stability metrics, compare sensor performance, and present an optical model that quantifies LGS brightness, conjugation errors, and field errors arising from finite beacon separation.
ER -