by GCT
The telescope “Aristarchos” was linked on Saturday to AlphaSat, the largest European telecommunications satellite, turning the Mt. Helmos Observatory in northern Peloponnese into the first European land station for a European Space Agency (ESA) program.
At an event at Achaia Prefecture observatory – which is part of the National Observatory of Athens – the telescope became part of the ESA’s Secure and Laser Communication Technology program (Scylight).
Scylight is expected to introduce major changes in telecommunications through the new technology of optical radiation from a laser (instead of radio frequencies), leading to greater accuracy and security in the transfer of data