On the suitability of fiber optic data links in the space radiation environment: a historical and scaling technology perspective

As NASA, DoD, industry, and others propagate the current spacecraft trends for increasing science data throughput and on-board processing, the use of fiber optic data links between spacecraft subsystems has gained heightened interest. With this is mind, we present a perspective of the use of these fiber optic systems in the space radiation environment that encompasses both the historical past and scaleable future space systems and their requirements.