Qualification pathways for Photonic Integrated Circuits in Astrophotonic Space Missions
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.
Related
- Photonic Integrated Circuits for the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Science Drivers, Material Platforms, Arrayed-Waveguide Spectrographs, and a Space-Qualification Roadmap
- Inverse-designed tapers to improve throughput of on-chip astrophotonic spectrographs
- Simulation and development of astrophotonic H-band nulling beam combiner for the CHARA Array
- Environmental qualification and performance of a CubeSat-scale dual optical frequency comb payload for space applications
- Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy
BibTeX
@misc{madhav2026qualification,
title = {{Qualification pathways for Photonic Integrated Circuits in Astrophotonic Space Missions}},
author = {Kalaga Madhav and Aashia Rahman and Máté Ádámkovics},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.00834},
eprint = {2608.00834},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00834},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Qualification pathways for Photonic Integrated Circuits in Astrophotonic Space Missions
AU - Kalaga Madhav
AU - Aashia Rahman
AU - Máté Ádámkovics
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/27
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.00834
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00834
AB - 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.
ER -