MUNICH – The SpaceDataHighway system – the world’s first ‘optical fibre in the sky’ based on cutting-edge laser technology – has achieved 10,000 successful laser connections. The reliability rate has reached 99.8 percent, and during the first one and a half years of routine operations these successful connections have downloaded more than 500 terabytes of data. The system’s satellites are designed to lock on to low-orbiting satellites via laser and collect their data as they … [Read more...] about SpaceDataHighway achieves 10,000 successful laser connections
SpaceDataHighway
Airbus launches Sentinel-2B successfully
Kourou - Europe´s Copernicus programme has got its second eye. On Tuesday, 7 March at 02:49 am CET (6 March at 10.49 pm local time), a Vega launcher successfully took off from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the satellite developed and built under the industrial leadership of Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA). After just over one hour, the solar panel, needed to supply energy, was unfolded and Sentinel-2B successfully reported in ‘for duty’. The 1.1 ton … [Read more...] about Airbus launches Sentinel-2B successfully
The SpaceDataHighway is open for traffic
The start up of Airbus Defence and Space’s initial service of SpaceDataHighway represents a step change in the speed of space communications. Ultra-broadband laser communications and the geostationary orbit of the relay satellites combine to deliver a unique, secure, near real time data transfer service, making data latency a thing of the past. Thanks to the laser technology developed by Tesat Spacecom, the SpaceDataHighway can transfer high-volume data from Earth observation … [Read more...] about The SpaceDataHighway is open for traffic
First of SpaceDataHighway launches
The first relay satellite of the SpaceDataHighway, EDRS-A, was successfully launched into geostationary orbit. After a test period, it will become operational for its first end-user customer by mid-2016. The SpaceDataHighway system will provide high-speed laser communication in space at up to 1.8 gigabits per second. This major programme, which cost nearly €500 m to develop, is the result of a public-private partnership (PPP) between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Defence and … [Read more...] about First of SpaceDataHighway launches
