![]() ![]() As previously reported, HydRON answers to the trend of integrating space and terrestrial network architectures by means of a terabit optical network architecture. This paper will present an update on the HydRON (High Throughput Optical Network) project driven by SPL ScyLight. ScyLight has kept evolving in its first five years of activities, in line with identified trends and gaps. The SPL ScyLight addresses the technology development and -evolution of innovative optical communication concepts and seeks mature and verify these in-orbit. The SPL dedicated for Optical and Quantum communication is also called ScyLight, for “SeCure and Laser communication Technology”, answering to the required paradigm shift towards integrated, optical and potential quantum communication technologies. The SPLs allow ESA to focus on strategic topics across the entire bandwidth of TIA programmes, and to efficiently align efforts across the entire Agency. ARTES supports European and Canadian industry to explore innovative concepts and to produce leading-edge satcom products and services. ![]() In 2016, the ESA Member States established new and dedicated Strategic Programme Lines (SPL) within its “Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES)” of the Telecommunication and Integrated Applications Directorate (TIA). The paradigm shift supported by ESA is to make future telecom satellites seamlessly inter-operable with terrestrial high-capacity networks, with similar capabilities that users require of terrestrial systems, complementing them in ways not possible for terrestrial networks (e.g., ubiquity, mobility, multicast / broadcast). These terrestrial networks are transporting >99% of the worldwide data traffic. Therefore, in the traditional approach different satellites (with typically different ground segments) are serving different missions, with cost and complexity implications.Ī shift in the paradigm of satellite communications (satcom) is required, responding to the need to complement the continuous performance evolution of terrestrial high-capacity networks, rather than compete with them. In most services scenarios, the satellite is conceived as a standalone communications system without higher level integration into other space or ground assets or networks. Space communications have successfully provided global coverage for different types of services, e.g., TV / radio broadcasting, phone services / internet access in isolated regions, business to business virtual private networks over satellite. The HydRON overall architecture is meant to evolve and enable both architecture upscaling and service expansion. HydRON-DS represents the initial stage serving the purpose to gradually demonstrate key technologies required to deploy a first (all) optical transport network at terabit-per-second capacity in space and the seamless extension of terrestrial fibre-based networks into space. To prove crucial aspects of HydRON, a subset of key elements of the overall HydRON System (HydRON-S, encompassing the full width of the future implementation) were selected for implementation in the frame of a demonstration system (HydRON-DS), capable to validate all HydRON aspects end-to-end. The HydRON project proposal and initial funding were approved at the occasion of the ESA Ministerial Council in November 2019. The 3-dimensional optical network capabilities will revolutionize the SatCom sector and its related commercial business. Concretely, HydRON will take advantage of space assets to complement terrestrial high-capacity networks, ultimately enabling the configuration of a worldwide and world-first 3-dimensional optical network interconnecting terrestrial networks with different (orbital) layers in GEO, MEO, LEO, and HAPS. The concept aims to empower satellite networks by developing terrestrial networking capabilities and features, in order to interconnect all types of space assets by an “Internet backbone beyond the cloud(s)”. The ambition of the High thRoughput Optical Network (HydRON) project of European Space Agency (ESA) is to seamlessly extend terrestrial high-capacity networks into space. ![]()
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