Lasers help satellites to transmit data to Earth – BBC Russian

Image copyright ESA

Image caption Program EDRS is developed by the European Space Agency for more than 10 years,

The European Space Agency launched a program to launch satellites transmit orbit information to Earth using lasers.

The first satellite EutelSat 9B was launched with Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on January 30 with the help of a Russian carrier rocket “Proton-M”.

High-speed laser connection will bind satellites that can take pictures of the Earth and then send them through being in space relay processing center .

It is reported that the program EDRS – European system of relaying data – will allow to pass to Earth observation satellite vast amounts of information in a short time.

In this case, the satellites will not have, as of now, be sure to stay for the transmission over the area where the receiving station.

Currently, the satellites are in the receiving antenna only about 10 minutes during each 90-minute loop around the Earth, and therefore the data transfer process has been delayed for hours .

Image copyright ILS

Image caption The first satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using rocket “Proton-M”

The new technology information will be sent not directly to Earth and the other satellite, which is at a much higher altitude and is in constant communication with the receiving station.

As the researchers emphasize, so you can quickly report to the desired areas of the Earth for natural disasters, man-made disasters, the facts of pollution the environment, illegal fishing, or the seizure of ships by pirates.

The program EDRS is developed by the European Space Agency for over 10 years.

At present, equipment for optical transmission equipped with two Earth observation satellites.

Image copyright COPERNICUS ESA

Image caption The new program will promptly report disasters. The picture shows the flooding in Burma

They will be able to upload data to the relay satellite, which will be located at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers above the equator.

Tests conducted by partner Airbus Defence and Space, demonstrate that satellite images to Earth it will be possible to transfer in 20 minutes after the shooting.

“The difficulty is that you have, roughly speaking, to install using Laser beam contact with another satellite, which is at a distance of more than 40 thousand kilometers. This is roughly the same as the fall in the coin two euros, located on the other side of the Atlantic “- said in an interview with BBC BBC Project Manager Michael Whitting .

The speed of data transmission via laser is believed to developers, will reach 1.8 Gb / s.

Image copyright AIRBUS DS

Image caption relay satellite is always in the reception area ground station

The second relay satellite with laser terminal on board is scheduled to be launched into space in 2017.

It will take a few more similar satellites in orbit to provide high-speed transmission of information around the world around the clock.

Representatives of Airbus DS expect that the system will begin to operate at full capacity in 2020.