Artist impression of European Data Relay
Satellite (EDRS) system
PR 39 2012 - The design of Europe’s data relay
satellite system – EDRS - has been completed and approved. This marks the
moment when it moves ahead with a green light from its first customer, the
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative from the European
Union (GMES).
EDRS will provide a telecommunications
network that is fast, reliable and seamless, making real-time information from
satellites available on demand. EDRS will be the first commercially operated
data relay system to deliver services to the Earth observation community.
It is being built through a Public–Private
Partnership (PPP) between ESA and Astrium Services, using payloads carried by
two satellites in geostationary orbit, hovering 36 000 km above the Equator,
where their speed matches Earth’s rotation.
Data transmitted from satellites in lower
orbits to either of these EDRS payloads can then be relayed to the ground. The
payload includes a laser terminal developed by TESAT of Germany to transmit up
to 1.8 gigabits per second over distances in excess of 40 000 km, between the
lower satellites and EDRS in geostationary orbit.
A design review board of senior members from
ESA, Astrium and the DLR German Aerospace Center approved the entire system
design: from the satellites to the support that will be required from the
ground. The industrial organisation is fully in place with all subcontracts
negotiated and ESA’s partner Astrium Services ready to begin production.
“EDRS is a fantastic breakthrough for Europe,
from the innovative laser communication terminal technology, which is the heart
of EDRS, to the provision of operational services by 2014 through a PPP that
combines the best from European space companies with the national and European
space institutions,” says Magali Vaissiere, director of ESA’s Telecommunications
and Integrated Applications Directorate.
The first of the two EDRS payloads will be
carried on the Eutelsat-EB9B satellite, starting operation in 2014, built by
Astrium and positioned at 9°E over the Equator.
The second satellite, planned for launch in
2016, will carry the second EDRS payload as well as the Hylas-3 payload from
the UK’s Avanti Communications. This satellite will be built by Germany’s OHB
using the SmallGEO platform, currently under development by OHB under ESA
contract.
For further information visit: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMTQU91M9H_index_2.html
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