An earlier EDRS contract signature, with Magali Vaissiere, ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, and Eric Béranger, CEO Astrium Services, on Oct. 3, 2011, Paris. Photo: ESA

[Via Satellite 1-07-2014] MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has signed a contract to provide OHB System with satellite communication electronics to be integrated into the EDRS C telecommunication satellite as part of the European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system.

The EDRS system of telecommunication satellites in geostationary orbit will relay information between Low Earth Orbit satellites and ground stations. EDRS will increase the time the satellites can be in communication with the ground and enable faster delivery of imagery to users. This will support response activities following natural disasters, such as providing accurate space-based maps of affected areas. Astrium is the industrial prime contractor to the European Space Agency for the implementation and later operations of the EDRS system.