Kourou, French Guiana, June 21, 2019. The telecommunications satellite EDRS-C has arrived at the European launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite is scheduled for launch on 24th July 2019 on an Ariane 5.

The telecommunications satellite EDRS-C is the second node of the 'SpaceDataHighway' network (also known as EDRS), a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus Defence and Space. It will be a unique system of satellites in an orbit that makes them appear to be permanently "fixed" over a network of ground stations. The system is designed to relay data between Earth Observation satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the EDRS satellites in geostationary orbit using innovative laser communication technology. It then sends the data down to ground stations based in Europe.

OHB System (a subsidiary of the space and technology group OHB SE) developed and built the satellite under a contract with Airbus Defence and Space. Aboard the satellite is a data relay payload with a laser communications terminal for satellite-to-satellite links supplied by the German partner Tesat-Spacecom. In addition, a hosted payload HYLAS 3 was provided by Avanti Communications under a contract with ESA as a customer-furnished item to OHB. EDRS-SpaceData-Highway is supported by the German Space Administration at DLR with funding from the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Federal State of Bavaria.

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Martina Lilienthal
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Corporate Communications
Günther Hörbst
Tel.: +49 421 - 2020-9438
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