A telecommunications laser satellite was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on January 30, 2016. The satellite will collect data from Earth observation satellites, drones and the International Space Station through lasers, and will immediately transmit it to sensors installed on Earth. The launch was carried out under a project called European Data Relay System (EDRS). The data-transfer satellite is the first of the many such satellites that are scheduled to be launched during the coming years.

The new communications network that the ESA plans to establish and will be operational through lasers will develop a ‘SpaceDataHighway’. This network will be capable of transmitting data including photos and videos at a real-time speed of around 1.8 Gigabits per second. The speedy transfer of satellite data will enable faster and early response towards information received on disasters, pollution events and illegal fishing or ocean piracy. The satellites, with 100-minute orbit, that are currently deployed in low Earth orbit can transmit data only during the 10 minutes when they have line-of-sight with sensors on Earth.

The first optical satellite of the ESA will be deployed at a fixed location above Europe at an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometers (around 23,000 miles) from the equator of Earth. The ESA revealed that the satellite will gather information from its position and will subsequently dispatch the data to the European ground stations in Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

The agency plans to test the laser terminal during the coming weeks and months, with the terminal due to be completely operational by the summer. The satellites first client to receive the data will be the European Commission. Two more laser data satellites over Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are likely to be launched by the ESA in coming years. According to ESA project manager Michael Witting, the primary challenge will be to establish communication between the two satellites.