EDRS space network ready to go ahead

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 tele 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.