Photonic propulsion system

A photonic propulsion system for a spacecraft, comprising:

• a photon stream source comprising a plurality of solid-state emitters mounted on a substrate and configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in response to being activated;
• an optical collimation assembly positioned in optical alignment with the photon stream source and configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation from the solid-state emitters and further configured to convert at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation to a collimated photon beam comprising a reduced spatial divergence relative to the emitted optical radiation;
• a pointing subsystem configured to orient the collimated photon beam in a commanded direction;
• a power subsystem configured to provide electrical power to the photon stream source to energize the solid-state emitters;
• a thermal management subsystem thermally coupled to the photon stream source and configured to dissipate heat generated during operation of the solid-state emitters and other heat generating components of the photonic propulsion system;
• a spacecraft avionics interface configured to enable communication between the photonic propulsion system and the spacecraft;
• and
• a control subsystem configured to:
• receive, from the spacecraft avionics interface, a thrust command;
• in response to receiving the thrust command, regulate activation of the solid-state emitters using the electrical power provided by the power subsystem;
• and
• regulate operation of the pointing subsystem to generate a thrust vector for the spacecraft using momentum carried by the collimated photon beam.