EDRS-C - The second node of the European Data Relay System is in orbit

摘要

EDRS-C was successfully launched on 6th August 2019 and will operate on a geostationary orbit as the second node of the laser-based European Data Relay System (EDRS). The EDRS-C satellite, developed, manufactured and tested by OHB System AG as space segment prime contractor, has been procured in the frame of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Defence and Space. The primary objective of the EDRS mission is to provide a data relay service to LEO satellites from GEO orbit by means of optical and RF bands. A constellation of geostationary satellites will be linked to a network of ground stations and, using innovative laser communication technology, will receive data from Earth observation satellites from lower orbits and relay it to ground stations in Europe, in near real-time and at a rate of 1.8 Gbit/s. The geostationary EDRS satellites feature laser communication terminals that significantly differentiates them from conventional telecom satellites. The terminal aboard EDRS-C is the Laser Communication Terminal (LCT), designed and manufactured by TESAT Spacecom. EDRS-C has been designed and developed by OHB System on basis of the SmallGEO platform. In order to accommodate the LCT adaptations to the existing platform design had been required, which implied a consolidation of the existing platform design, an extension of its competitiveness with reference to the application of optical payloads, and an important milestone in the development and industrialization of the generic SmallGEO platform product line. This paper presents the main design adaptations performed on the SmallGEO platform in order to provide the LCT with an environment that guarantees its full performances. Some selected assembly, integration and test matters specific to optical payloads, and in particular to an LCT, are summarised as well in this paper.