Greece has established its first optical link with a satellite in low Earth orbit. The European Space Agency announced on November 2 that the Greek nanosatellite ERMIS-3 had connected by laser with the HolOGS-1 ground station on Mount Holomondas.
ERMIS-3 was designed by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, while the ground station was installed by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The satellite launched on March 30, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Laser links can carry more data than radio transmissions, which have limited capacity and are increasingly in demand as satellites generate more information. ERMIS-3 carries a hyperspectral camera that captures images across numerous bands of light, including data that can be used to monitor crops. High-resolution images of this kind can be large to transmit back to Earth.
The demonstration focused on whether ERMIS-3 could aim at the ground station, establish contact and track it as the satellite passed overhead. The ESA did not report a data rate for the test. Laser links require precise alignment between the satellite and receiver, and clouds can interrupt the connection; atmospheric turbulence can also weaken the signal.
Sources: Numerama.