ESA has renewed the contract to operate and develop its Redu ground station in Belgium. The centre is responsible for controlling and testing a range of satellites as part of the Agency’s network of stations.

The Redu Centre provides S-band links for ESA’s network of ground stations, as well as in-orbit testing (IOT) for telecommunication and navigation satellites. Today, Redu is providing communications for the Artemis, Integral and Proba satellites.
 
The site, in Belgium’s Ardennes region, hosts multiple steerable antennas operating in a variety of frequency bands. After a satisfactory first three-year period, Redu Space Services (RSS) will continue to operate the station.
 
With the support of the Belgian authorities, large investments have been made, such as the installation of new power lines to bear the load of future projects and the station’s extension of around 10 000 sq m. ESA is building a new plant to power the Galileo facilities and new customers.

Antennas at ESA's Redu ground station

The 20 m L-band, 4.5 m C-band and UHF antennas for Galileo IOT will be joined by other antennas moved from Luxembourg: 15 antennas of various sizes, including a 13 m Ku-band dish will be maintained by RSS as backup for the facilities of the satellite operator SES in Betzdorf.
 
In 2009, RSS signed its first Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) contract, to modify the Ka-band IOT antenna at Redu. ESA’s IOT facilities now fully cover the Ku- and Ka-bands, offering the possibility of using this antenna for testing the Hylas telecommunications satellite later this year.
 
“The last three years have been a time for change for Redu,” says Daniele Galardini, Head of the Redu Centre within ESA’s Directorate of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications.
 
“The shared ‘win-win’ approach regulated by the contract between ESA and RSS has allowed an optimisation of the resources on site and a reduction of the costs, to the benefit of both parties. Third-party activities making use of ESA facilities will be executed to the full satisfaction of new customers by RSS. This has been proven by the achievements of RSS during the past three years.
 
“This approach allows ESA to focus on its core business – supporting demonstration missions, Proba satellites and missions such as Artemis, and hosting ESA’s Galileo and Space Situational Awareness facilities.”
 
The increase in its activities led to the recognition of Redu as an ESA Centre and its full integration into the ESA structure of establishment and centres in 2009.