EDRS reached 1,000,000 minutes of communications!
On April 27th, 2023 at 3PM UTC, EDRS our optical data relay service reached 1,000,000 minutes of communications!
SpaceDataHighway, the laser communications revolution
SpaceDataHighway™ (SDH) is Airbus’ delivery of high bandwidth space data relay services for both LEO satellites and airborne platforms via pioneering laser communications infrastructure.
By utilizing the European Data Relay System (EDRS), a public–private partnership initiative between ESA (European Space Agency) and Airbus, SpaceDataHighway allows the transmission of customer data (including imagery, voice, and video) from your LEO satellites and airborne platforms to receiving ground stations and data pick-up points in Europe.
A reach of 1,000,000 communications minutes
Since 2016, our two GEO nodes (EDRS-A and EDRS-C) have been providing secure, high-speed and reliable data transfer services to the European Union’s Copernicus Programme and, since 2022, a fully European communication capability to the International Space Station, cumulating to date to 1 million minutes of communication time
This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the trust and support of our customers and partners. We are proud to have led the development of optical communications, as precursor technology, still playing a critical role in enabling future evolutions, such as robust GEO to Ground and GEO to Airborne solutions.
As we celebrate this milestone, we remain committed to advancing the frontiers of optical communication in space and delivering innovative solutions to meet our customers' evolving needs. We look forward to continuing our journey and thank all of our partners who have contributed to this great achievement.