Experimental Communication Satellite Programmes of the European Space Agency——Advanced Technology in Orbit

摘要

This paper describes four experimental communication Satellite programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA). These are: the Orbital Test Satellite (OTS), OLYMPUS, and ARTEMIS,illustrating the past, present, and future of ESA'e continuous involvement in the geostationary communication satellite field, and a nongeostationary satellite, ARCHIMEDES, which ESA will be pursuing in the future.Each programme will be described, explaining the motivation and objectives for it, along with a technical summary of the satellite itself.Highlights of the in-orbit performance of OTS and OLYMPUS will be presented.