Satellites and their supporting ground station are complex and substantial pieces of equipment representing a sizable financial investment, so it stands to reason that upgrades to either will be complex and time consuming.

Space Norway first embarked on a project to update its monitoring and control system (M&C) in 2019 when it was decided that it was time to prepare for the coming decade with more modern and future-proof technology. However, that was just the beginning of an installation process which has now just reached the halfway mark!

The first two years were spent identifying exactly what was needed for the antennas and sourcing potential suppliers. Having collated and analysed the information, the decision was taken to opt for the Monica Monitoring and Control system from Amphinicy Technologies, and so the Monica Project was born.

The first ever satellite was launched nearly 70 years ago, on October 4, 1957, arguably acting as the catalyst for all space exploration that has occurred since, and the role of satellites has been growing steadily from that time.

Today, satellites serve critical functions that benefit various ground-based enterprises, governments, military reconnaissance, and provide indispensable support for human spaceflight ventures.

The spring equinox is the time when those of us in the northern hemisphere start to look forward to the longer and brighter days of summer. In fact, like its autumn counterpart, the equinox (named from the latin words equus (equal) and nox (night) is the rare occasion when day and night are equal.

Here, Space Norway’s Richard James Buckley, Director Satellite Operations, explains how the equinox and its related eclipse season affects both satellites and the people operating them.

While everyone else is preparing for either summer or winter, for the engineers looking after our fleet it is the period during which all GEO stationary satellites will enter the shadow of the earth (an eclipse) for between one and 72 minutes per day for a duration of 44 days. The precise timing of this will depend on their exact location but, as our THOR fleet are all based at 1⁰ West, the satellites will all be in shadow at the same time. This is a challenge for the operators as the satellite cannot use its array of solar panels when the sun is unavailable.

In Oslo, Norway, the Spring Equinox will begin on March 20, 2024 at 04:06 CET.

In this era of unprecedented technological advancements, the digital divide between those who have access to this bright new world and those for whom it is still lacking, is impeding overall global progress.

The digital divide can be seen between citizens within nations, largely due to economic differences, but it is far more marked between different nation states. In this case the issue is more multi-faceted, encompassing aspects such as accessibility and usability of connectivity, as well as economics – the three key challenges facing those communities that are behind the technology curve.

Connectivity accessibility can best be explained by how readily available technological infrastructure and resources are for those who wish to be digitally connected, whether through devices, internet or other essential tools.

Usability refers to the skills and knowledge required to use digital technologies effectively. Even where access is available, there can still be a lack of general digital literacy and experience which can hamper individuals and businesses in their attempts to maximise their use of these resources.

Economics relates to the financial resources needed to access and utilise digital technologies and encompasses such things as the cost of devices themselves, as well as internet subscriptions and other associated expenses.

Read the original article published in the November 2023 edition of Satellite Evolution Global.

On this IMO International Day for Women in Maritime, Telenor Satellite would like to recognise our colleagues who work so far in the background that seafarers are unaware of the vital role they play in their lives.

The women keeping satellite communications on course

One of the most significant benefits of recent years for seafarers, whether male or female, has been the increased availability of connectivity. Vessels including electric ferries, automated, and smart, ships are all entirely reliant on satellite communications in order to function. Similarly, cutting edge initiatives such as the Greensand Project which is capturing carbon and returning it to the seabed are dependent on “always-on” connectivity.

But it’s not only in terms of the operational and increasingly digitised aspects of maritime that seafarers have benefitted from greater satellite communications. Crew now have the opportunity to speak regularly to family and friends onshore, and enjoy video streaming and internet browsing, just as they would at home.

Keeping that connectivity on stream

While the company’s satellites are termed as being geostationary, stationary is not strictly the correct way to describe them. In fact, albeit slowly, they are continually moving in relation to the earth and that is where our Flight Dynamics Manager, Hanne J K Skonnord comes in. She is responsible for planning station keeping manoeuvres for the satellites to keep their position in the geostationary arc to remain in constant touch with the antennas on the vessels.

Equally crucial is Lead Spacecraft Engineer Kristina Lärfars, she is one of a team of engineers who deal with any problems that arise with the operation of the satellite, taking the necessary action so that our clients never experience a dropped signal. One key aspect of this is ensuring that the satellite continues to transmit even during solar or lunar eclipses when it relies on battery power rather than its solar arrays.

Not simply satellites

While, as expected, the transmissions arrive in homes via Telenor Satellite’s THOR fleet of satellites, perhaps what is less well-understood is that we operate an extension to our satellite services through our terrestrial fibre network which takes these broadcasts from their original location and transports them to our teleport in Nittedal.

New name for our terrestrial fibre network

Following a recent refurbishment of our fibre network infrastructure based on industry leading media delivery equipment from Net Insight, we decided to rename our service so that it truly reflects what it’s all about. Now known as Euro-Fibre, it’s a facilitator and enabler, transmitting live broadcast content between key locations in Europe and our teleport. Euro-Fibre is unusual in that it is dedicated to broadcast customers, offering broadcasters and play-outs a seamless high-end fibre network with capable bit rates, diverse and separate routing, and built-in fibre redundancy.

Points of Presence in key locations

Telenor Satellite ensures clients have easy access to its fibre network through its many Points of Presence (PoPs) – they can be found in more than twenty locations throughout Europe including major hubs such as London, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

But in addition to the fixed PoPs, we are able to offer clients tailor-made services, including tail circuits which extend access direct to clients’ sites with commissioning taking place on short notice if a quick turnaround is needed.

Highest quality media provider

Ole Ledang, Telenor Satellite’s Director, Broadcasting, said: “The broadcast media demands the highest quality from its service providers and won’t accept any glitches or latency and that is exactly what we provide with Euro-Fibre. By renewing all our systems to the highest specifications available, we are ensuring that our customers benefit from a service which has been future-proofed to exceed the quality of service they require.”

Euro-Fibre – the name says it all!

Many thanks must go to the amazing Telenor Satellite team who all played a part in the name selection. When asked to participate in a competition to come up with the new name for our terrestrial fibre network, they didn’t disappoint!

The changing shape of today’s vessels, with increased digitalisation and IoT, has made the requirement for extensive and high-powered communications a must-have rather than a nice-to-have for all maritime sectors in Scandinavia.

Offshore energy

The Norwegian offshore oil and gas sector is currently experiencing a new lease of life as the Ukrainian conflict leaves many countries facing energy shortages. When coupled with the rising number of offshore wind projects, we are looking at a flourishing industry with a growing need for connectivity.

These offshore energy sites are becoming more complex and much bigger with a need to comply with increasingly strict regulatory controls requiring intelligent and uncompromised communications to support the high levels of digitalisation now in use. Tracking, reporting and real time monitoring by staff, both onboard and onshore, place far greater demands on high-speed connectivity than previously but also ensure that the vessel suffers far less down time. The Internet of Things has enabled the transfer of information between sea and shore, allowing for remote upgrades to equipment and crew to be alerted of potentially hazardous conditions, meanwhile operational data can be collected offshore for analysis onshore.

Offshore support vessels

When considering the hard-to-reach nature of these sites and the harsh environments that they are operating in, it’s easy to appreciate that critical systems are not limited to the offshore facilities themselves but also to the myriad support vessels working with them, whether Offshore Supply Vessels, Crew Transfer Vessels or Floatels. They each place high demands on communications systems to ensure the smooth running of key operations such as navigation and weather forecasts.

Fishing

Another dynamic sector for Norway in particular is fishing. Vessels are in operation 24/7, often remaining at sea for a month or more, with crews working up to 12 hours a day. For those working in the Barents Sea or even further north, conditions are icy, dark, cold and windy. This is an area where it is extremely difficult for satellite companies to operate, in fact Telenor Satellite is one of the very few whose satellites are ideally situated to provide reliable and constant VSAT connectivity up to 79 degrees north. Again, there are strict regulations and mandatory reporting requirements which need to be transmitted back to shore but equally important is the safety and wellbeing of crew who need access to emergency assistance as well as links to home.

Expedition cruise

One of the fastest growing cruise sectors, expedition cruising is taking off in Scandinavia with well-travelled guests looking for more adventure. These are sophisticated passengers who take for granted that there will be good connectivity onboard. The complexity of these ships and the sheer quantity of people add to the requirement for communications links that can process large amounts of data both operationally and for the benefit of guests. Combine that with the more challenging environments of the Arctic and it’s easy to understand why high-quality connectivity is vital for this sector too.

This article was originally published by Ship Management International in issue no 102 March / April 2023.

Satellite Evolution spoke to Space Norway’s Jan Hetland, Director Data Services Division, about the current state of the maritime mobility sector and what he sees for the future of the satellite communications industry.

People have become much more used to having connectivity at their fingertips and expect it even when travelling in remote areas. Satellite companies need to demonstrate their innovation and resourcefulness to ensure their client’s evolving requirements can be met promptly and effectively.

Earlier this year we started to offer XipLink, an end-to-end WAN optimiser solution, as part of our Anker Managed Services portfolio. This provides increased throughput, maximum wireless performance, and an improved end-user experience. XipLink has proved very beneficial to our passenger ship clients as it offloads the computational burden of a large number of end-users and TCP sessions from the satellite modems, which often prove to be the bottleneck.

We are finding our clients across the board in this sector are opting for XipLink and, in fact, having tried it on a first vessel they have chosen to roll it out throughout their entire fleet. The amount of uptake we have seen on the XipLink service is very encouraging and we expect it to continue to grow.

I think the biggest change we have seen has been with the oil and gas sector as explained earlier. Prior to COVID there had been a reduction in exploration and, of course, that reduction was expected to continue following on from COP 26. With the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, everything has been turned on its head and we are seeing greater demand for connectivity in support of a rise in activity.

Certainly, in a country like Norway which has enjoyed revenues from the oil and gas sector for many years, the discussion that had centred around tailing off, or even ending, oil exploration activities has now been put aside as the EU attempts to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. However, I think the shift goes beyond simply oil and gas and encompasses the entire energy sector as we have also seen a lot of activity related to offshore wind projects including floating wind farms which will also increase demand for connectivity. It’s all about ensuring energy security and developing alternative and renewable energy sources.

There is really only one possible answer to this question – satellite companies need to listen to the demands of their customers and then make sure that they have right products and services to deliver the connectivity they need. For satellite operators such as ourselves, the key challenge is that you need a three to four-year lead time when designing and building a satellite, so both we and our clients need to have a very good idea of our future needs well in advance. And you try to build a bit of flexibility into your satellite design to cater for changing demands.

Still, not all of our customers take a long-term view so we also need to look at market reports and overall trends although you wouldn’t launch a broadcast satellite without having firm requirements from the broadcaster and you would design it around their needs.

It is fair to say that today’s satellites offer much more flexibility in terms of redistributing capacity so that, combined with talking to clients about their projected requirements, means that we have more certainty that we will meet demand moving into the future. Data connectivity is certainly going to go up and part of our role is to make customers aware of what is possible so that they can make the most of their opportunities.

In the future you will see bit rates continue to increase and connectivity requirements will only rise. People expect more, for roughly the same amount of spend, so we have to try and deliver on those expectations and provide more for the same amount of money. While demand grows for increased services and performance, the baseband platforms and modems which form the infrastructure of the business are having to keep pace. This is the main reason for our recent adoption of the Newtec Dialog® platform which ensures we can provide services up to 100/25 Mbps in order to support high-end user cases.

Maritime antenna technology is another important area. Today’s modern satellites are more powerful than older satellites, and in turn this allows smaller, lighter and lower cost antennas to be used. This is a particularly important area for the maritime sector since the typical maritime stabilised antenna platforms account for a large portion of the total cost of a maritime satcom terminal. For some time, flat-panel antennas have been seen as the holy grail for maritime satcom, as they have no moving parts and motors which are subject to wear and tear in a challenging maritime environment. Although progress has been made in this area, the equipment manufacturers have yet to solve all the issues required for flat-panel antennas to become mainstream technology. Today, they are either too low in performance, or they cost too much, or they consume too much power.

The new LEO and MEO systems may help bring about this change since they heavily rely on such antennas being available in order to offer low-cost terminal equipment. But the past 8-10 years show that improvement comes in gradual small steps and not in giant leaps. In the current geopolitical landscape, we are seeing supply chain issues, embargos and looming trade wars which all contribute to rising prices and schedule delays.  Hence, several of the planned LEO/MEO systems have already announced delays or having to scale back on their initial ambitions. Starlink’s recent launch of a service for the yachting market is perhaps a sign of progress being made, however, and it will be interesting to see going forward if they are able to satisfy the requirements of this maritime segment.

I think the entire maritime sector will need to focus more closely on cybersecurity. There have already been some high-profile breaches involving large shipping companies which have caused problems within the supply chain and more recently a two-way service in Ukraine was hacked and effectively shut down.  This just shows that the industry must take a holistic view on cybersecurity. Having secure satellite networks will not help much if a ship’s own IT infrastructure is left vulnerable and exposed from the Internet. There are still far too many examples of clients and ship owners operating network equipment using default factory login credentials. So everyone’s mindset has to change really.

Being part of Space Norway – cybersecurity is something we have to take seriously, and we have access to some of the best expertise in the country to help us design our networks and improve our security posture.

For sure we will continue to evolve as a satellite operator, we need to continue to put new additional capacity into the sky when there is a need, and the time is right. We will continue to invest, evolve, and develop new technology to meet our customer’s demands.

So, in a nutshell, we are planning to be productive, planning to be around for a good many years and planning to invest in and adopt new technology whenever the possibility arises. No revolution on our part but steady evolution going forward.

The original article was published by Satellite Evolution in the November 2022 issue of Satellite Evolution Global (page 20).