European Data Relay System

The European Data Relay System (EDRS) system is a European constellation of state of the art GEO satellites that relay information and data between satellites, spacecraft, UAVs, and ground stations. The designers intend the system to provide almost full-time communication, even with satellites in low Earth orbit that often have reduced visibility from ground stations. It makes on-demand data available to, for example, rescue workers who want near-real-time satellite data of a crisis region. The European Data Relay System (EDRS) system is a European constellation of state of the art GEO satellites that relay information and data between satellites, spacecraft, UAVs, and ground stations. The designers intend the system to provide almost full-time communication, even with satellites in low Earth orbit that often have reduced visibility from ground stations. It makes on-demand data available to, for example, rescue workers who want near-real-time satellite data of a crisis region. The system has been developed as part of the ARTES 7 programme and is intended to be an independent, European satellite system that reduces time delays in the transmission of large quantities of data. The programme is similar to the American Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System that was set up to support the Space Shuttle—but EDRS is using a new generation Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) technology. The laser terminal transmits 1.8 Gbit/s across 45,000 km, the distance of a LEO-GEO link. Such a terminal was successfully tested during in-orbit verification between the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X and the American NFIRE satellite. It is also embarked on the commercial telecommunication satellite Alphasat.