Later this year ETOGS, with the deep space laser transmitter mounted on it, will be tested from Kryoneri in Greece using ESA’s Alphasat satellite in geostationary orbit at 36 000 km altitude, which is equipped with an optical communications system.

Once operational, the station will operate as part of the OOEL Lab, so will be at the disposal of ESA projects as well as companies and research institutions of Agency Member States.

The station has been developed and is being run by ESA’s Opto-Electronics section, which is dedicated to systems that utilise or control light. This section is part of the Agency’s Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality, tasked with preparing the advanced technologies and providing the engineering support to make future missions and projects possible.