The book focuses on photonic devices and systems for space applications and critically reviews the most promising research advances in the field of photonic technologies, which may have a significant impact on the performance of space systems.Photonics is emerging as a crucial enabling technology having the potential of enhancing many space systems, including the links for on-board data handling, the high-resolution measurement systems, and the processing units. The book discusses this subject with a special emphasis on the new guided-wave devices with high performance, low cost and size.Most of the scientific content of the book is novel and it is devoted to academic and industrial researchers working on the field.

Optical Payloads for Space Missions is a comprehensive collection of optical spacecraft payloads with contributions by leading international rocket-scientists and instrument builders. Covers various applications, including earth observation, communications, navigation, weather, and science satellites and deep space exploration Each chapter covers one or more specific optical payload Contains a review chapter which provides readers with an overview on the background, current status, trends, and future prospects of the optical payloads Provides information on the principles of the optical spacecraft payloads, missions’ background, motivation and challenges, as well as the scientific returns, benefits and applications

This publication presents the proceedings of ICPMSE-6, the sixth international conference on Protection of Materials and Structures from Space Environment, held in Toronto May 1-3, 2002. The ICPMSE series of meetings became an important part of the LEO space community since it was started in 1991. Since then, the meeting has grown steadily, attracting a large number of engineers, researchers, managers, and scientists from industrial companies, scientific institutions and government agencies in Canada, U. S. A. , Asia, and Europe, thus becoming a true international event. This year’s meeting is gaining even stronger importance with the resumption of the ISS and other space projects in LEO, GEO and Deep Space. To reflect on these activities, the topics in the program have been extended to include protection of materials in GEO and Deep Space. The combination of a broad selection of technical and scientific topics addressed by internationally known speakers with the charm of Toronto and the hospitality of the organizers brings participants back year after year. The conference was hosted and organized by Integrity Testing Laboratory Inc. (ITL), and held at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). The meeting was sponsored by the Materials and Manufacturing Ontario (MMO) and the CRESTech, two Ontario Centres of Excellence; Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR/NL); MD Robotics; EMS Technologies; The Integrity Testing Laboratory (ITL); and the UTIAS.

Proceedings of SPIE present the original research papers presented at SPIE conferences and other high-quality conferences in the broad-ranging fields of optics and photonics. These books provide prompt access to the latest innovations in research and technology in their respective fields. Proceedings of SPIE are among the most cited references in patent literature.

The effects of various space environment factors like atomic oxygen, vacuum ultraviolet radiation, charging, micrometeoroids, meteoroid showers, etc. on materials and structures in various orbits are discussed. In addition the ways to prevent these effects or reduce them through protection by coatings or modification of affected surfaces are considered in the book. The discussions on development of predictive models of material erosion that will allow the materials engineers and designers of future spacecraft to evaluate materials' behaviour is continued from the past meetings.