ESA: Conference on planned European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS)

More than a hundred senior managers and experts from European space industry, national agencies and ESA packed a Geneva conference room earlier this week to learn about the commercial opportunities offered by ESA's planned data relay satellite system.

The strong attendance from Europe and Canada's space community highlights the growing expectations by industry and potential customers for the planned European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system. Once in operation, EDRS will provide exceptionally high-speed data relay capabilities to other satellites, vastly improving services such as Earth imaging, disaster response and environmental monitoring.

"Europe is the only space power that lacks a data relay capability. The requirements for navigation, environmental monitoring and security need this ability, and there is solid interest in building this system," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, who spoke to the gathering via video.

The EDRS system will be developed as a so-called 'public-private partnership' (PPP), an innovative structure in which ESA leads the creation of the initial system and infrastructure that is later taken over for full exploitation and further development by a commercial partner. Hence the intense interest from space industry at this week's EDRS Workshop, organised by ESA's Telecoms directorate and co-sponsored by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Swiss Space office.

EDRS Workshop well attended by industry and organisations
The EDRS Workshop, 1-2 December, was well attended by experts from industry in numerous ESA Member States, Canada, national space agencies and government ministries, as well as the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).

"Autonomous access to space for Europe not only means launchers - it also means communication. We would like to support EDRS fully and we hope other Member States will join us," said Prof. Dr Johann-Dietrich Worner, Chairman of the Executive Board of DLR, who also spoke to attendees by video.

EDRS will boost European-developed technology and make use of a cutting-edge inter-satellite laser communication system as well as new data dissemination infrastructure on the ground.

Magali Vaissiere, ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, explained that the Agency's Artemis relay satellite, launched in 2001 as a technology demonstrator, has already successfully completed thousands of optical communication links with satellites and aircraft.

"We have a significant background in Europe in this field and in particular at ESA. We believe that these communication means will become strategic features of many space missions in the future," she said.