Photonics has played a primordial role in space exploration and astronomy. Examples include, but are not limited to the Charge- Coupled Device (CCD) camera , solar panels, and spectrographs and their calibration in the search of exo-planets. A new push for photonics in space is to replace Radiofrequency interconnects with fibers that allow for a much more compact size are robust and have a lower weight. This decreases the payload during launch. Moreover, these links are robust against electromagnetic disturbance. Also between satellites microwave links need to be replaced with free- space optical links. The latter offers much more bandwidth and can not be disturbed. However, such optical links need small form factor complex photonic chips with very low noise lasers and detectors. In this project we will integrate low noise lasers and detectors on commercial photonic chips.