13-04-2017, 01:58 PM
Space laser communications are coming out of the test phase and into orbit when the first satellite of the European EDTA relay system (EDRS), or SpaceDataHighway, is ready for launch in late January. The 1.8-gigabit-per-second system is a public-private partnership between Airbus Defense and Space and ESA, which will function as a relay system between ground stations, satellites and aircraft.
EDRS-A, the first relay satellite, will be launched in a geostationary orbit on January 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on top of a Proton rocket. Once in geosynchronous orbit over Europe, the satellite will establish laser communication links between the four Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites of the European Earth observation program Copernicus, UAVs and ground stations in Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East , And the northeastern coast of the United States.
EDRS-A is a Eurostar E3000 type satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space and operated by Eutelsat. At its heart is the Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) built by the subsidiary of Airbus Defense and Space Tesat Spacecom at a cost of almost 500 million euros (544 million dollars). The LCT will allow the EDRS to transmit and receive up to 50 terabytes of encrypted data per day in near real time.
The system will be used to deliver images, video and other data from satellites, UAVs, airplanes and space stations, enabling faster and more complete communications in the event of a crisis or natural disaster. In addition, the system will be used for Surveillance and Intelligence Recognition (ISR), maritime surveillance, environmental monitoring, agriculture, natural disasters and weather forecasting.
