ESA DLR: EDRS space network ready to go ahead

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 telecommunications 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.

A design review board of senior members from ESA, Astrium and the DLR German Aerospace Center approved the entire system design: from the satellites to the support that will be required from the ground.

The industrial organisation is fully in place with all subcontracts negotiated and ESA’s partner Astrium Services ready to begin production.

“EDRS is a fantastic breakthrough for Europe, from the innovative laser communication terminal technology, which is the heart of EDRS, to the provision of operational services by 2014 through a PPP that combines the best from European space companies with the national and European space institutions,” says Magali Vaissiere, director of ESA’s Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate.

The first of the two EDRS payloads will be carried on the Eutelsat-EB9B satellite, starting operation in 2014, built by Astrium and positioned at 9°E over the Equator.

The second satellite, planned for launch in 2016, will carry the second EDRS payload as well as the Hylas-3 payload from the UK’s Avanti Communications. This satellite will be built by Germany’s OHB using the SmallGEO platform, currently under development by OHB under ESA contract.

ESA EDRS Satellite System makes room for Hylas-3

When the European Data Relay System launches its second satellite in 2015, it will be taking the Hylas-3 communications package along for the ride thanks to ESA’s ‘hosted payload’ approach.

EDRS is being built through a public–private partnership between ESA and Astrium Services, using payloads carried by two satellites in geostationary orbit, 36 000 km above the Equator.

Data transmitted from satellites in lower orbits to either of these EDRS nodes can then be relayed to the ground.

The first of the two EDRS nodes will be carried on the Eutelsat-9B satellite in late 2014, built by Astrium and positioned at 9°E over the Equator.

The second satellite carrying EDRS had room for another payload, so ESA offered it to industry in August last year.

Avanti Communications of the UK was selected, with the final agreement being signed on 10 July at the UK’s Farnborough International Airshow.

Through this arrangement, the cost of satellite resources and the launch are now shared. This contributes to the funding of the EDRS programme while providing access to space at a lower cost for the hosted payload.

Avanti and ESA previously worked together to launch the Hylas-1 satellite in 2010.

Providing European broadband coverage and TV distribution, Hylas-1 is the first European satellite specifically designed to provide interactive broadband services, as ESA’s first public–private partnership in a full satellite system.

Hylas-3 includes a steerable multibeam antenna to provide communications for institutional and international customers, and is completely independent of EDRS.

The EDRS 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.

Both EDRS and Hylas-3 will be flown on a satellite built by OHB of Germany using the Small GEO platform.

Through its ARTES telecommunications programme, ESA has supported a number of hosted payloads over the years.

EDRS: high-speed data from LEO to ground

At its core, the EDRS system will enable satellites in low-Earth orbits (LEO), which are usually only able to communicate directly with a ground station for just a few minutes per orbit, to send their data almost continuously via laser link up to receivers mounted on spacecraft in geostationary orbit.

These are in permanent view of ground stations, so the data can be sent down at high speed and distributed to end-users.

This architecture vastly improves existing space applications and enables new services. For example, when a forest fire is first spotted, a satellite could be tasked to acquire images and send the data via EDRS quickly to the ground, where maps could be generated within just a few hours. This is very difficult with current systems.

The EDRS system will also provide graduated levels of commercial service by offering lower-speed data transfer via traditional Ka-band radio links, at lower cost, in addition to the high-speed optical links.

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.