KOUROU, FRANCE — The European Space Agency and Airbus have launched their second space laser satellite, the EDRS-C. <br /><br />It was sent into space on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana on Aug 6.<br /><br />The EDRS-C will join its sister satellite, the EDRS-A, and operate in geostationary orbit, according to the European Space Agency. <br /><br />This is approximately 35,786 kilometers above the surface of the Earth, according to Science Direct.<br /><br />Both form part of the European Data Relay System, a satellite constellation.<br /><br />The BBC reports that they will use lasers to collect data from lower orbit Earth satellites called Sentinels. These watch over the planet and capture images of the surface."<br /><br />According to the ESA, the Sentinel-1 orbits at 693 kilometers high, while Sentinel-2 orbits at 786 kilometers.<br /><br />The EDRS can relay data back to Earth at a rate of up to 1.8 gigabits per second. <br /><br />According to the ESA, these satellites were previously only able to transmit information to earth whenever they were in direct line of sight with a ground station. This was every 90 minutes.<br /><br />The addition of EDRS-C cuts that delay to almost nothing, allowing satellites to send data to Earth in almost real-time. <br /><br />The ESA explained that the technology would allow for a faster response to emergency situations.<br /><br />According to the BBC, a third satellite, EDRS-D, is expected to launch before 2025.
