30 January 2015

This decision follows the successful test campaign of the first multigigabit optical intersatellite link between the Copernicus Sentinel-1A and Alphasat satellites. This campaign, a precursor of the European Data Relay System, or EDRS, has paved the way for an entirely new approach of delivering data, with space systems becoming part of the global Big Data challenge.

The EDRS system consists of the first payload, EDRS-A, to be launched by mid-2015 on the Eutelsat-9B satellite, followed by a satellite, EDRS-C. The EDRS-C satellite, based on a SmallGEO platform from OHB Systems AG, will also carry Avanti’s HYLAS-3 telecommunications payload.

EDRS’ unique features include a bidirectional optical intersatellite link operating at 1.8 Gbit/s, based on the Laser Communication Terminal developed by TESAT in Germany under funding from DLR German Aerospace Center, a bidirectional Ka-band link offering a bandwidth of 300 MHz, on EDRS-A, as well as a 1.8 Gbit/s feeder link to the ground.

The positioning of the two EDRS payloads on the geostationary arc offers near-realtime transmission of, for example, Earth observation images to the ground at unprecedented speeds.