The European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to build the first ground station of the ambitious ARTES ScyLight program next to the Helmos Observatory in Achaia, the National Observatory of Athens’ largest research center.

The program, which aims to integrate space technologies into high-speed broadband networks, concerns the next generation of telecommunications, where information will be transmitted by laser systems between ground stations and satellites.

“The fact that the first pilot station in the world will be created here and the program will be substantially tested, opens new horizons for the scientific potential of the country,” said Spyros Vasilakos, director of the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS), in comments to Kathimerini.

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com