\n<\/p>\n
European scientists receive data from space experiments at home broadband speeds thanks to the flawless operation of a mighty antenna installed on the International Space Station five years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins is pictured installing the communications device \u2013 roughly the size of a cool box \u2013 outside ESA\u2019s Columbus laboratory on 27 January 2021. Since then, the Columbus Ka-band antenna (ColKa) has supported research and operations from orbit through reliable, high-speed communications.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The system delivers a whole family\u2019s worth of high data volume \u2013 up to 50\u202fMbit\/s for downlink and up to 2\u202fMbit\/s for uplink \u2013 for science and video streaming, including stunning time-lapses of Earth and Moon views<\/u> captured by European astronauts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the first data exchange on 8 April 2021, the antenna has operated continuously, switching off only during the arrival and departure of spacecraft to avoid interference.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s connection to our home in space follows a complex choreography. ColKa transmits signals that are picked up by the EDRS-A telecommunications satellite in geostationary orbit 36\u202f000 km above Earth \u2013 some 90 times the altitude of the Space Station. This satellite is part of the European Data Relay System<\/u>, our highway for high-speed data traffic in space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The link enables internet-like connectivity with the Station, relaying data directly to European soil via the system\u2019s ground station at Harwell in the UK. From there, scientific information travels to the Columbus Control Centre in Germany, and vice versa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe know-how gained from designing, building and running ColKa will be instrumental for ESA\u2019s Lunar Link<\/u> telecommunications antennas in the future lunar Gateway station \u2013 an outpost over 1000\u202ftimes farther from Earth than the International Space Station, as well as for missions farther into deep space,\u201d says Sara Pastor, ESA\u2019s Gateway programme manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ColKa was designed and built by British and Italian companies, using subsystems from Canada, Belgium, France, Germany and Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n