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Pléiades Neo constellation

Pléiades Neo, initiated, financed and operated by Airbus Defense & Space, is a constellation of four high-performance earth observation satellites. The constellation will be deployed over 2021 and 2022, and will complement the European fleet of civil and military observation satellites already in orbit.

Launch of the 1st Pléiades Neo satellite

Syrlinks teams were comissioned by Airbus DS to provide the EWC34 high data rate transmitter. To meet the needs of the Pléiades Neo constellation, Airbus DS was looking for a very high speed image telemetry equipment. Syrlinks, with its experience in space radio communications, was able to meet this requirement with an X-band transmitter delivering a data rate of 600 Mbps. The company is known for its ability to design customised products.

Offering a high data rate transmitter such as the EWC34 was therefore a very stimulating project for the company’s R&D teams. The development of this product started in September 2016 and mobilised a team of around 40 people within Syrlinks.

The EWC34 transmitter is therefore an essential piece of equipment for the smooth running of Pléiades Neo satellite observation missions. Thanks to this high-speed image telemetry link, the data acquired by the satellites are sent to the processing centres on the ground in a very short time.

The Pléiades Neo 3 satellite onboard three pieces of EWC34 equipment, one for redundancy and two others to meet the mission’s needs. The Pléiades Neo 4 satellite will also onboard three EWC34 transmitters, while Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 will each have only two.