A new laser ground station has opened in northern Greece. Where else in Europe is this novel technology being used, and why does continent-wide connectivity matter?
A new laser ground station is beginning operations in Greece as Europe accelerates efforts to build a continent-wide network for faster and more secure satellite communications.
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The Holomondas Optical Ground Station, built through a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA), the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will support a new generation of Greek satellite missions using high-speed optical communications, according to an announcement made by the partners.
Developers of the new station say the facility is faster and cheaper to operate than traditional systems.
Astrolight, the Lithuanian company that supplied the optical communications equipment, says the station is designed to keep its accuracy during temperature changes and small mechanical shifts, making it easier to use with more compact and less costly infrastructure.
Supporting Greece’s satellite missions
The station will support two Greek missions, PeakSat and ERMIS, which were launched into orbit on 30 March 2026.
The satellites are part of Greece’s in-orbit demonstration programme and will test laser-based data transmissions between space and Earth.
Located at the Holomondas site in northern Greece, the station was originally built as an astronomical observatory but has now been transformed into an optical communications hub as part of ESA’s Greek Connectivity Programme. The initiative aims to strengthen optical connectivity infrastructure in Greece and across Europe.
“The commissioning of the Holomondas Optical Ground Station marks an important step towards enabling faster, more secure, and resilient connectivity, while strengthening Greece’s role within Europe’s expanding optical communications ecosystem,” said Frederic Rouesnel, Greek Connectivity RRF Project Manager at ESA.
“As the Greek CubeSats move into their demonstration phase, they will help validate innovative laser communication technologies that will provide alternatives to scarce radio frequencies, and shape the future of high-capacity connectivity in space.”
What is a laser base?
Unlike traditional radio-based satellite communications, laser systems use narrow beams of infrared light to transmit information. The technology can send data far more quickly than conventional radio methods and is more difficult to interfere with because the signals travel in tightly focused beams.
Astrolight says the system can support data reception speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps under different weather and operating conditions. The company also says laser communications can provide more than 10 times faster and safer communications at lower cost than conventional systems.
That could dramatically reduce the time needed to download large amounts of satellite data.
Information that currently takes hours to transmit could eventually be delivered in less than a minute, while the higher capacity would allow satellites to send back more images and scientific measurements without compressing or discarding them.
Ground stations in Europe
The development comes as satellite traffic in low Earth orbit continues to grow rapidly.
The number of satellites in low Earth orbit is expected to increase by 190 per cent within the next decade, according to a World Economic Forum report.
Due to increasingly crowded orbital traffic, which makes the traditional radio communication tricky, the Lithuanian start-up aspires to expand its laser tech globally.
Astrolight is currently building a station in Greenland as well with plans to complete it this year.
Europe has dozens of satellite ground stations, most of them older radio-based sites, with a smaller but growing number of newer optical stations.
They help satellites send data back to Earth and support missions such as weather forecasting, climate monitoring, navigation and emergency response.
Key radio sites include Kiruna in Sweden, Redu in Belgium and Santa Maria in the Azores, while newer optical sites include Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, Almería in Spain and Nemea in Greece.
Their location matters because Europe’s space network depends on how well these stations connect across the continent.
The stronger the links between northern, western, southern and eastern sites, the easier it is to share satellite data quickly, avoid gaps in coverage and keep services running if one route or region is disrupted.
