European Data Relay System
The European Data Relay Satellite System ( EDRS ) is a system of geostationary communications satellites to provide continuous data transmission between satellites and UAVs and ground stations.
The system should allow full-time communication with satellites in low Earth orbit, which often have only a very reduced visibility from ground stations. It will make the data in the right place at the right time available and thus, for example, provide emergency personnel with near real -time satellite data and information to the crisis region in which they operate.
The system is developed under the ARTES - 7 program and to replace the Artemis satellite. It is to be developed in order to reduce delays in the transmission of large amounts of data.
The program is similar to the U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, which was used to communicate with the space shuttle. EDRS but will use a new generation LCT technology from Tesat Spacecom. The LCT is designed to 1.8 Gbps over distances of 45,000 mi - can be transferred - the equivalent of removing a LEO -GEO link. Such a terminal has already been successfully tested in the in-orbit verification between the German radar satellite TerraSAR- X and the American satellite NFIRE. An LCT is aboard the commercial telecommunications satellite Alphasat to another system and operational demonstrations can perform.
The system
The EDRS infrastructure is made up of two geostationary payloads ( two additional payloads are already in the pipeline ), a ground segment consisting consist of a satellite control center, a Mission & Operations Center, a feeder link earth station ( FLGS ) and ground stations to receive data.
Space Segment
The first EDRS payload, a laser communication terminal and a Ka-band satellite link, will be launched on board the telecommunications satellite Eutelsat (also called Euro Bird 9B ). The launch will take place in 2014 to a position at 9 ° East. A second satellite is planned for 2015 and will be positioned at 22.5 East.
These two components of the space segment form the basic infrastructure in space and allow a direct cover for LEO satellite over Europe, the Middle East, Africa, America, Asia and the poles.
Two additional satellites are planned for 2017 and 2019 and then provide a complete coverage of the Earth and a long-term system redundancy by 2030.
Ground segment
The ground segment of EDRS consists of three ground stations in Weilheim ( Germany ), Redu (Belgium) and Harwell ( UK). The central mission operations center will be in Ottobrunn, while a backup is to be installed in Redu.
Operation
The first EDRS users will be the Sentinel -1 and -2 satellites of the GMES program. The Sentinel satellites provide data for the operational provision of geo-information products and services throughout Europe and worldwide. The EDRS data transmission services for the Sentinel satellites enable fast downlink large data sets. Extensive additional capacity on the system will be available for other users.
A number of important applications will benefit from EDRS:
- Earth observation services to support time- critical and / or data-intensive applications, such as Veränderungeüberwachung, environmental monitoring.
- Require government and security services, the data of major European satellite systems, such as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security.
- Crisis intervention teams and rescuers, who need timely information and data from crisis areas.
- Security forces, must transmit the data to Earth observation satellites, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles, to program the new systems in real time.
- Weather satellite services that require fast delivery of large amounts of data around the world.
Implementation
EDRS will (PPP ) operated as a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency ( ESA) and Astrium. ESA funds the development of the infrastructure and is the main customer of the Sentinel satellite missions. Astrium has overall responsibility for the implementation of the space segment including satellite launches and the implementation of the ground segment. Astrium is then owner of the EDRS system and will provide data transmission services for ESA and customers worldwide.