European Data Relay System (EDRS-C)
Spacecraft Mass: 3186 kg
Orbital Altitude: 36000 km (GEO)
Launch Date: 2019
Delivered services:
The European Data Relay System (EDRS) was built to accelerate the flow of information from Earth-observation satellites to people on the ground by using data transmission via Laser.
The second satellite in the network, EDRS-C, has now passed its user commissioning review and entered into full service.
Launched on 6 August 2019, EDRS-C is in geostationary orbit some 36 000 kilometres above Earth.
This geostationary position enables the communication satellite to maintain an almost constant connection with Earth-observation satellites that are closer to the planet’s surface and circle the Earth every 90 minutes or so.
The EDRS satellites use lasers to communicate with Earth-observation satellites and beam their data back to Europe in almost real time. Without them, there would be delays of up to 90 minutes.
EDRS-C has joined its sister satellite, EDRS-A, and can now be used by its customers to relay information from all four Sentinel satellites that watch over Earth, capturing day-and-night radar images and multispectral high-resolution images of vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas – as well as information for emergency services.
The EDRS-C satellite platform was built by OHB System in Germany and the laser terminals were developed by Tesat-Spacecom and the DLR German Space Administration.
Solutions:
Spacecraft platform
Space Structures provided the following structures consulting/engineering services:
- Development of cleat verification methodology
- Implementation of the cleat verification tool and its integration with the existing fastener and insert verification procedures
- Cleat-joints verification under thermoelastic and quasi-static loads
- Support during the fasteners verification activity
- Horizontal and vertical hoisting analysis and verification
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