For planet earth and beyond
20 February 2015 – The Hispasat AG1 communications satellite completes the integration phase in the OHB System's cleanroom in Bremen (DE) and is now undergoing environmental impact testing.
11 February 2015 – As Sentinel-2A nears the end of testing before being shipped to its launch site, one of the last jobs has been to make sure the satellite’s laser terminal is up to the job of delivering large volumes of data to the geostationary EDRS satellite.
Reflecting EU socio-economic priorities, satellite communications is a key sector of the space industry. This article explains its huge (often invisible) impact on the daily lives of citizens. (PDF version also available)
News: ARTES 3-4 success story
With the support of ESA, Airbus Defence and Space has developed a key component for the commercial satellite market – a versatile subreflector assembly – that is now validated for flight.
News: an important milestone for the ARTES 7 EDRS programme
28 November 2014 – Marking a first in space, Sentinel-1A and Alphasat have linked up by laser stretching almost 36 000 km across space to deliver images of Earth just moments after they were captured.
The Alphasat/Sentinel-1A optical link payloads have now been qualified. This ESA video describes how the system works.
News: the next stage of ESA's long-running ARTES 11 Iris programme
26 Nov 2014 – A contract worth €15 million was signed by ESA’s Magali Vaissiere, ESA’s Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, and Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat CEO, worth €15 million at Westminster in London, UK.
Interview with Magali Vaissiere, director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications
To mark the celebration of 50 years of European cooperation in space, we ask Magali Vaissiere, director of TIA, to highlight some of the noteworthy accomplishments of the Directorate over the years.
Today in ESA satcoms history
10 November 2014 – On this day, 30 years ago, one of Europe’s first telecommunications satellites, MARECS B2, was launched. The MARECS maritime communications satellites were the first European satellites of their kind.
