A beam-steering system comprising: a lens; and a programmable vertical coupler array comprising: a substrate; an array of couplers having a plurality of coupler rows and a plurality of coupler columns, each coupler of the array including a coupler waveguide and a vertical-coupling element that is configured to launch optical energy received from the coupler waveguide into free space; a bus waveguide disposed on the substrate, the bus waveguide having a first input port configured to receive a first light signal; a first plurality of row waveguides disposed on the substrate; and a switching network that is operative for controlling the propagation of the first light signal from the first input port to any coupler of the array; wherein the lens and programmable vertical coupler array are arranged such that the lens receives the optical energy launched by each vertical-coupling element and directs the optical energy in a direction that is based on the position of that vertical-coupling element within the programmable vertical coupler array and a relative position of the lens and the programmable vertical coupler array; characterized in that each coupler of the plurality thereof is optically couplable with a row waveguide of the first plurality thereof; and each coupler waveguide of the coupler array has a movable end and a fixed end that includes its respective vertical-coupling element, wherein the fixed end has a fixed height relative to its respective row waveguide. a lens; and a programmable vertical coupler array comprising: a substrate; an array of couplers having a plurality of coupler rows and a plurality of coupler columns, each coupler of the array including a coupler waveguide and a vertical-coupling element that is configured to launch optical energy received from the coupler waveguide into free space; a bus waveguide disposed on the substrate, the bus waveguide having a first input port configured to receive a first light signal; a first plurality of row waveguides disposed on the substrate; and a switching network that is operative for controlling the propagation of the first light signal from the first input port to any coupler of the array; a substrate; an array of couplers having a plurality of coupler rows and a plurality of coupler columns, each coupler of the array including a coupler waveguide and a vertical-coupling element that is configured to launch optical energy received from the coupler waveguide into free space; a bus waveguide disposed on the substrate, the bus waveguide having a first input port configured to receive a first light signal; a first plurality of row waveguides disposed on the substrate; and a switching network that is operative for controlling the propagation of the first light signal from the first input port to any coupler of the array; wherein the lens and programmable vertical coupler array are arranged such that the lens receives the optical energy launched by each vertical-coupling element and directs the optical energy in a direction that is based on the position of that vertical-coupling element within the programmable vertical coupler array and a relative position of the lens and the programmable vertical coupler array; characterized in that each coupler of the plurality thereof is optically couplable with a row waveguide of the first plurality thereof; and each coupler waveguide of the coupler array has a movable end and a fixed end that includes its respective vertical-coupling element, wherein the fixed end has a fixed height relative to its respective row waveguide.