ARLA/CLUSTER: Reino Unido envia nova antena para a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS)

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

British radio antenna arrives at space station

The UK's first industrial contribution to the International Space
Station (ISS) was delivered on Tuesday.

The communications antenna is part of a consignment of supplies that
arrived on a Cygnus freighter.

Made by MDA UK, the Columbus Ka-band (COLKa) Terminal will enable
astronauts to connect with scientists and family on Earth at home
broadband speeds.

The equipment will be fixed to the exterior of Europe's ISS science
module in a few weeks' time. This should improve substantially on
current arrangements for radio links.

"At the moment, the communications from Columbus go through the
American data relay satellites, but those satellites are prioritised
for US use. This gives Europe some independence," David Kenyon, the
managing director of Oxfordshire-based MDA UK, told BBC News.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51536246

• Our thanks to Stephen, G7VFY for spotting this item