Alphasat laser terminal commissioning status aiming to demonstrate Geo-Relay for Sentinel SAR and optical sensor data

In-orbit commissioning of the first geostationary laser communication terminal (TESAT LCT) of the EDRS 1,800 Mbps class has commenced. The laser relay experiments phase is being contracted for three years by the German Space Agency (DLR) and is planned to see test campaigns with an optical ground station of ESA at Tenerife, a transportable ground station with adaptive optics (TESAT T-AOGS) and two low earth orbiting Earth observation satellites (Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-2A) as well as an airborne platform. The launch of Sentinel-1A (SAR) satellite is scheduled for April 2014 followed by a commissioning phase for the laser link to the Alphasat relay station in GEO orbit.