New Space Compact Flash Lidar

Over the past years, with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and in collaboration with the Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), CSEM has developed a direct time-of-flight flash lidar technology that now reaches a TRL 4. The lidar prototype is designed for space exploration (landing) and servicing (rendezvous) applications as well as underwater imaging. It provides a 3D image of 128 × 128 pixels with a field-of-view of 4 to 20°. The system fits inside a 20 cm cube, weighs less than 6.5 kg, and draws less than 60 W. First, this work reviews the current prototype and its performances. Second, technological trade-offs, and a comparison against state-of-the-art scanning lidars is provided. Third, an outlook towards future developments following a New Space approach and benefiting from synergies with complementary applications will be presented.