Research on Far-field Diffraction of Cube-corner Retroreflector in the Satellite Laser Ranging System

Cube-corner retroreflector (CCR) has been widely used in the satellite laser ranging (SLR) systems as a cooperative target based on its direct reflecting. It can increase the energy of laser pulse which is reflected back from the satellite, augment the distance between the satellite and the observing station, and improve the ranging accuracy. In recent years, CCR has become one of the essential loads of satellites for improving the satellite orbit's accuracy. CCR in a satellite diffracts and redistributes the energy of the laser pulse, and the far-field diffraction of the CCR impacts the performance of SLR greatly. In this paper a method for detecting the far-field diffraction characteristics of CCR quantitatively is discussed. A measuring system is designed, some key factors, such as the incident light's collimation and the Fraunhofer transform's accuracy are analyzed and measured. And the detected results of CCR's far-field diffraction characteristics are compared with the numerical simulation, which can be used as a proof to demonstrate the correctness of the experiment. At last, the CCR's far-field diffraction characteristics at different temperatures are also observed to verify the CCR's adaptability to the space environment.