Security measures for a satellite operation means assessing everything from physical risk at a ground station to cyber attacks in space and space debris. The operation must be aligned with the current security threats. Simple, but very complicated.

Any Norwegian space project is international in its execution. We have world class competence, but we are a small player in the space industry. In 2024, Space Norway launches two highly elliptical satellites that will provide broadband to the Arctic. The two satellites in the ASBM programme (Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission) are being built in the US and will cover and transmit to American soil. We interact with both suppliers and customers here (read this article on Landing Rights in the US) in addition to our Norwegian and British customers.

Security is especially important when the operation takes place in space and on the ground at the same time, and it is equally important to cooperate well with customers and suppliers on security matters. The measures we must take into consideration span from physical and digital protection of the ground stations to operating the satellites in a secure fashion and to the protection of software and systems on board the satellites. Obviously, there is a whole range of different risks that can occur in such a wide scope. A satellite will not be exposed to the same physical threats as the ground stations, such as flooding for example, but the operation as an entity must consider everything that can happen on the ground and in space at the same time. Security is seen in three dimensions: Confidentiality protects the values; integrity protects information and makes sure it does what it is supposed to do and finally availability provides what you want when you want it.

So how does one cover such an elaborate and important issue, with so many variables and with customers and suppliers from different countries with different rules and demands? A common set of rules and standards is a good beginning.

To cover all these considerations as simply as possible in cooperation with our partners, Space Norway uses the American NIST as a framework. NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology) offers framework and guidelines using open standards and suggestions for measures to secure operations and information through developing policies and procedures tailor made for our needs. This institute does not have power of enforcement nor powers of revision, but it offers a wide range of security standards, from the smallest nano particle tool to global communication networks. They offer principles for procedures and detailed suggestions for the whole process.

Space Norway’s security team works with specialized consultants in implementing these procedures for our ASBM operation. To us, it is essential to be credible towards our national and international customers, and NIST is an important common basis for our security efforts.

Space Norway’s two highly elliptical satellites launch from Vandenberg, California. They are being built by Northrop Grumman (NG), also located in the US. The Arctic Broadband Satellite Mission (ASBM) programme has hired a team in the US to monitor the process leading up to launch.

Oddveig Tretterud is the project manager for the ASBM programme, responsible for the Space project and keeping an eye on the building of the satellite and the launch. Oddveig travelled to Dulles in Washington DC in 2020, where NG has its headquarters to put together our Field Office. She has extensive experience in building satellites along with having worked several years in the US before. She knows the business and she knows which skills are needed to manage the complicated business of building satellites.

The satellites Space Norway has bought from NG are by no means mass produced, they are very complex. Overseeing the building of this very logistically challenging operation requests technically demanding practical work. Decisions must be made quickly, and someone needs to be present at the supplier’s location every day. These processes never run smoothly, assessments and choices must be made continuously making client presence a necessity to ensure the best possible product delivery. In addition to Oddveig, her team consists of highly experienced consultants with detailed knowledge of the different disciplines of a satellite project. Her team is comprised by Jim, Roland and Chris, three engineers with decades of experience from similar programmes for Telesat, a large Canadian satellite company. Additionally, working together with our team are two people from our client Inmarsat and one person from the US Space Force.

The daily routine involves meetings with the supplier, first during the design phase dominated by analysis and assessments towards the program specifications. Once the design is approved, extensive testing on each component commences at the production site before delivery at NG for integration on the satellite platform. There, testing at system level starts. The process of testing is considerable, and all test results are discussed and assessed. If a test fails for some reason, detailed processes to identify, repair and recreate the failure are instigated. Agreement on why the failure happened and consensus that all measures are taken to ensure that it will not happen again, are needed before further testing can continue. The Field Office is involved in all these stages, all the while reporting back home on status, progress, areas of risk and measures. The team additionally coordinates communication between NG and the rocket supplier, SpaceX.

Our Field Office tracks the process from the design phase, through building and testing. When the building is complete and the satellites are ready, they are transported to the launch site. After launch, the test regimen continues in orbit. And then, finally, control of the satellites is transferred to satellite operations and the job is done for our Field Office.

The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission is scheduled to launch in 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force announced Nov. 28 it delivered the second and final military communications payloads that will launch in 2023 on Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission known as ASBM.

The first Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) payload was delivered in June. Both payloads are scheduled to launch to highly elliptical orbits on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Read the whole Space News- article written by Sandra Erwin here

Danish and Norwegian satellite operators, Sternula and Space Norway, who are the world’s first to launch and operate VDES satellites, will work together on satellite network roaming, search-and-rescue, and new maritime IoT services in a new ESA-funded research project to realize AIS 2.0.

The VDES technology has been developed over the past decade by IALA as the evolution of AIS for digital data exchange in the maritime VHF frequency band and has now matured to enable the digital transformation of the maritime industry. The technology, sometimes referred to as AIS 2.0, has been approved by the United Nations’ telecom agency, ITU, for global use in the maritime VHF spectrum. The world’s first VDES capable satellite, NorSat-2, launched in 2017, has allowed Space Norway to demonstrate a range of maritime digital services, and with the launch of NorSat-TD in April 2023 the VDES capabilities of Space Norway will increase further. Sternula is launching its first satellite in December 2022 as a pioneer VDES satellite operator.

VDES allows for two-way communication where AIS is a one-way system. The range of terrestrial VDES is limited to a station’s visibility above the horizon, which usually means a maximum range of approximately 70-100 kilometres. However, satellite VDES provides coverage also outside the range of coastal stations, such as open oceans and Arctic waters. VDES supports a wide range of services and applications that improve the safety of life at sea and helps the maritime industry become more efficient and environmentally friendly. This includes services such as distribution of maritime safety information, data exchange for improved situational awareness in rescue operations and route exchange for safer and more cost effective journeys.

In a new ESA-funded research project, Sternula and Space Norway will work together to develop and demonstrate maritime IoT services based on the VDES technology, VDES satellite network roaming and maritime distress alert detection in support of search and rescue. The project paves the way for new and innovative maritime digital data services in support of e-Navigation and the digital evolution of the maritime industry. Additionally, the project will test a roaming capability between Sternula and Space Norway’s satellites to deliver better services to the customers.  The system relays information from a ship’s components gathered by Sternula equipment via Space Norway’s satellite. While at sea, a ship’s need for maintenance or spare parts can be identified, making maintenance and repairs easy and time efficient when in port.

Minister of Trand and Industry Jan Christian Vestre visited the US in September 2022 . The purpose of the visit was to strengthen the historically deep industrial relations between the two countries. The agenda was further and more targeted cooperation within green tech and opportunities for Norwegian businesses.

The Minister visited Northrop Grumman in Dulles, Virginia on 8th september together with Ambassador Anniken Krutnes. They received an orientation on the building of Space Norway’s Arctic satellites. Space Norway entered an agreement with Northrop Grumman in 2019 on the building of two large satellites with military and civillian broadband communication in the Arctic. The satellites will be launched by SpaceX in mid 2024.

A group of engineers and operators from Space Norway are currently visiting the British satellite operator Avanti in Goonhilly in Cornwall, to attend satellite operations courses. The team is strengthening their competence in satellite control and operations as a preparation for the upcoming launch of the ASBM (ASBM, Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission) satellites in 2024.

Satellite communications is understandably associated with strict security requirements and require highly dependable ground systems. The satellite operations control centre monitors the satellites 24/7. Telemetry is downloaded from the satellites and processed to ensure that all systems are operating per specification. The satellite operators work continuously in conjunction with the customers to qualify the mission requirements. The uniqueness of ASBM due to its highly elliptical choice of orbit as well as the close collaboration with its international partners Inmarsat, the Norwegian Armed Forces and the US Space Command, places significance on the development of a solid organization for satellite operations.

The Norwegian engineers are trained for a duration of two months at the British operator Avanti. Avanti was chosen for this assignment because it utilizes the same satellite operations software as Space Norway has implemented for ASBM. By participating in this training program, Space Norway ensures that its operations team holds solid competence in satellite operations prior to launching the satellites in the summer of 2024. Birger Johansen is leading the engineers from Space Norway and KSAT, and he believes they have benefited greatly from attending this training program in Goonhilly. – Our personnel collaborate very well with the satellite operators from Avanti. We have met persons with Avanti who hold a similar mindset as what we are used to from our organizations. There is a flat hierarchical structure in the company, and they share the same approach to problem-solving. The cultural similarities enable the training to be particularly efficient in readying our team for operating the satellites after launch, and contributes to significantly reducing the operational risk, states a satisfied Johansen.

The two Norwegian HEO-satellites shall be operational within one and a half year. They represent the first satellites from Western space industry to circulate the Earth in high-elliptical orbits across the two poles.

The ground stations have already been built in Tromsø and at Bardufoss and are ready to receive and process the information coming from the two satellites. Space Norway and KSAT are collaborating closely to prepare a round-the-clock, 24/7 organization for operating the ground stations once the satellites are operational in orbit.