title: Spaceborne laser radar.
abstract: Laser radar systems are being developed to acquire and track targets in applications such as the rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft. To search effectively for and locate a target using a narrow laser beam, a scanning system is needed. This paper describes a scan technique whereby a narrow laser beam is synchronously scanned with an equally narrow receiver field-of-view without the aid of mechanical gimbals. Equations are developed in order to examine the maximum acquisition and tracking rates, and the maximum target range for a scanning laser radar system. A recently built prototype of a small, lightweight, low-power-consuming scanning laser radar is described.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Flom