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US Space Force

Delivers final payload

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

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Q&A with Broadband TV News on the latest developments and future trends in the satellite broadcasting industry.

Ole Ledang, Director Broadcasting Division, Telenor Satellite
Ole Ledang, Director Broadcasting Division, Telenor Satellite. Photo: Kilian Munch

BroadbandTV News speaks with Telenor Satellite’s Ole Ledang about current advances in the broadcast industry, looking at trends in satellite design and essential requirements for continuous success in delivering premium DTH services across Europe.

Telenor Satellite has been described as the most versatile satellite operator in Europe. How have you achieved this position?

It’s a bald statement, but as a small/medium satellite operator you must think very carefully about satellite design. With THOR 5, 6 and 7 we have fully utilized the accessible frequency spectrum licensed at 1°West, including a Ka-band payload on THOR 7 alongside our FSS and BSS transponders.

Our key markets for broadcasting are in CEE and the Nordics and some broadcasters and DTH players would like coverage over a larger part of Europe to reach CATV headends, expats and other markets. We have multiple areas of focus when designing our satellites – option to switch transponders between spotbeams in case market development takes a U-turn, and 1°West spare-transponder philosophy on every satellite in order to perform damage limitation should a satellite crash and burn. Is it desirable to be able to move spot-beams? Could a situation arise where we have to uplink from one beam and downlink in another? Uplink in Ku-band and downlink in Ka-band, or vice versa?

So, when your flexibility is not on a multi satellite, multi orbital position level, you have to include flexibility and versatility on every satellite – and between the satellites. I think we have maximized the design every time, and it has proven necessary and right to do so.

As a satellite operator, how do you use ground infrastructure technology to enable operation for the DTH pay-TV sector?

Key for our customers is quality – both operational and visible – and quick response to changes. To fulfil the quality aspect, we have recently focused on converting all feeds from play-outs and studios to Mezzanine format. We have full control of the encoding and transcoding quality at our Nittedal Teleport and, together with our customers, we test and tune the setup until they are satisfied with the end result.

The IP network at Nittedal Teleport enables us to easily add transcoding resources if a channel is being prepared for ABR and IPTV production. We can also add broadcasting channels from remote operated video-servers hosted at Nittedal Teleport, or add sources made available through Zixi, SRTor other internet solutions.
A modern infrastructure mixed with IT competence and broadcasting know-how enables us to move fast and adapt to customer demands.

I should also mention that for the last couple of years our focus has very much been on IT-security. How to best protect production and control-systems from harmful intrusion.

Telenor Satellite’s largest Teleport is in Nittedal just north of Oslo. Can you describe how it operates?

Nittedal Teleport is the heart of our operations. Just shy of 60 engineers are organized in specialist-groups including a 24/7/365 NOC (Network Operation Centre) as well as Broadcasting Services, Data Services, RF and Infrastructure, and an ever more present and important IT and Network group. These engineer groups function as support for our NOC and as sparring partners for our customers.

What in your view are the latest developments in satellite design?

Never has the industry seen more alternative design initiatives as in the past 3-5 years. For broadcasting, I would like to see satellite- and launcher-development adapted to the changes in the DTH and broadcasting markets. Shorter contracts, rapid change to channel profiles, dedicated channels for live events such as football leagues, new geographical territories. Everything should be more dynamic and agile.

Can we see the re-usable launchers capable of multi-passenger opportunities developing – with dramatic reduction in prices? Development of “inexpensive” smaller DTH satellites with fewer transponders, shorter lifetime – maybe 6,7 or 8 years – very low weight and low complexity? I think that could guarantee a prosperous long-term market for broadcasters, DTH operators, satellite capacity providers such as ourselves, and the satellite manufacturer industry.

Quite a few years ago something similar happened in the encoding industry. Coming from a position with very complex and very costly encoder design – with complex infrastructure at the teleports, hard to operate, and very time-consuming to perform adaptations and changes – some manufacturers started to offer simpler encoders at a fraction of the price.

This situation triggered us to create a different infrastructure at our teleport. Instead of 1+n philosophy we could think 1+1 and IP. Seems like a small change, but really, it was a game changer.

Imagine if the same revolution happened in the satellite manufacturing industry. We could provide terms and conditions for our DTH and broadcast customers reflecting the rapidly changing environment they experience. It’s a win-win situation. And you could add another “win” for the satellite manufacturers because we could commit to more satellites at a quicker pace than we are able to today.

Looking to the future, what are Telenor Satellite’s main priorities and how can you see it developing in the course of the next 5 years?

We shall continue to grow our market share with our Data Services in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. We have been very successful with our Anker Maritime Managed Services. And Telenor Satellite needs further satellite capacity both in Ku- and Ka-band to continue feeding market demand.

On the broadcasting side and supporting our success migrating the entire Nordic DTH population into 1°West, our main focus is to ensure we have sufficient satellite capacity for our customers and partners in the CEE market. DTH experiences fierce competition from fibre infrastructure on the technical side and viewing habits on the end-user side. Each country and market differ, so understanding which products to provide where – and when – is key. We can only be successful, and ensure our customers are successful, if we continue to communicate and discuss options, functionalities and adaptive solutions reflecting the rapid changes in their marketplace.

Alongside our satellite products, we have a sharp eye on our non-satellite products in the Nordics. More than 300 ABR services, and over 600 IPTV services are produced at Nittedal Teleport. This is also an industry in full speed ahead, and we work closely with our main customers and their supporting CDNs to ensure we are maximising their ability to provide the functionality and products demanded by their end-users.

 

Read the original article published on November 24, 2022 by the Broadband TV News

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Space Norway and Sternula

Wins VDES-contract with ESA

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.

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Transforming media distribution with satellite-enabled 5G technology.

Telenor Satellite participates in 5G Emerge project to offer satellite-enable media distribution technology.

As for most people working in high tech industries, the thing that most excites us is discovering ways to make technology perform better, and so Telenor Satellite is delighted to be part of an elite group of European companies that have come together to leverage 5G technology in a move that will put European media delivery technology at the forefront of the industry.

A distribution revolution

Sponsored by ESA, European Space Agency, the 5G Emerge project was launched in June 2022 when ESA signed an agreement with an industry consortium led by European Broadcast Union (EBU).

Telenor Satellite is a member of the 5G Emerge project at the helm of EBU along with Telenor Research and Telenor Maritime, and a vast range of other key players from the broadcast and satellite sectors in Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, together currently totaling 21 enterprises and associations.

Next-generation 5G will delight any audience

5G technology is a game changer not just for MNOs (Mobile Network Operators), but also for the media industry – it offers super speed, lower latency and high availability giving users a much-improved experience when gaming or watching videos, whether at home or on-the-move. Immense quantities of media content need to move across the core network to reach end users wherever they are and satellite communications companies like Telenor Satellite want to develop efficient means to make this happen by using broadcasting technology.

The aim of the project is to provide end users with the content they want, wherever they want it and at the time of their choosing, and this will be achieved via a combination of satellite and terrestrial IP-based network infrastructures working in collaboration to produce the best viewing results. Satellites will form a key component of the content distribution, delivering high quality, in-demand content to sites as close as possible to the end user. Here, content will be cached in smart gateways, ready for speedy access by the end user via a smartphone, tablet or TV.

Reaching for the sky

The 5G Emerge project, which is still in its early stages, offers exciting opportunities for the future as the technology could be used by the maritime, aviation, transport and land-based sectors.

Read the full press release from EBU and learn more about the ESA 5G project.

Tone Liljeberg
Director of Projects, Space Norway (formerly, Telenor Satellite).

“Having media content stored and ready for consumption at the viewing device of the users has always been somewhat of a holy grail in the broadcasting and media industry. In this project we will work with satellite enabled solutions to inch closer to this long-standing vision.”

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Prominent visitor

Minister of Trade and Industry visits Space Norway in Dulles, USA

Minister Jan Christian Vestre visiting Northrop Grumman. Here with Norway's Ambassador to the USA, Anniken Krutnes, defense attaché Odd-Harald Hagen, Oddveig Tretterud from Space Norway and two representatives from Northrop Grumman. Foto: NFD

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.

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Satcom companies can do well if they are prepared to adapt - even in times of uncertainty.

An image showing satellite connectivity

While everyone is delighted to be coming out of the end of the COVID pandemic, there have been some unexpected developments for the satcom sector.

“It was always too much to hope that supply and demand would return to pre-COVID levels so quickly, so we simply didn’t anticipate some of the growth we have seen,” said Jan Hetland, Director, Data Services at Space Norway. “Passenger vessels were particularly hard hit by the pandemic, and we expected a slow return in our cruise and ferry client base but in fact demand has outstripped our expectations.”

The Norway based company has seen a surprising increase in demand for speed of connectivity and bandwidth from end users who appear to have developed ingrained internet habits. Space Norway has been delivering high quality connectivity and services to the maritime sector as far as 79° North, taking in the North Atlantic, the Nordics, Mediterranean, and regions in Africa and the Caribbean, and has been looking at ways to expand its offering throughout 2022.

New services to improve performance

He continued: “Over the years, we have built up an excellent working partnership with ST Engineering iDirect, so we are delighted to add their Dialog platform to our Anker Ka-band service portfolio, which allows us to provide services of up to 150/50Mbps. This offering has now been extended to our Ku-band, so that even more of our clients can benefit from its superior performance in terms of speed and bandwidth.

“The recent addition of Xiplink™ Wireless Link Optimisation technology to our Anker Managed services further enhances our satcom service through best-in-class acceleration coupled with integrated QoS shaping. Both these additions are particularly useful for our passenger vessel clients who may have thousands of users wanting to access bandwidth at the same time and without any loss of performance. “

It isn’t only the passenger ship sector that has surprised. The energy sector has also undergone some changes with the onset of the conflict in Ukraine. Many of Space Norway’s clients have not only cancelled planned downgrades in their requirements but have opted for upgrades to their existing sites. We see a renewed increase in exploration and new project development in offshore Oil & Gas, as well as a surge in activity within the offshore renewables sector, and the company is again opting for the Dialog solution to increase capacity and bandwidths in the North Sea region.

Space Norway further expands its Ku-band service on THOR 10-02  Spot 1 & Spot 2 to offer both maritime and land-based clients Dialog VSAT platform in the Middle East.
Space Norway further expands its Ku-band service on THOR 10-02  Spot 1 & Spot 2 to offer both maritime and land-based clients Dialog VSAT platform in the Middle East.

New generation of VSAT antennas

As well as the latest additions to its satcom services, Space Norway has also just announced the recent approval of the new generation of the SAILOR XTR 1m and 65cm antennas from Cobham Satcom. These are robust and powerful antennas which will secure reliable connectivity for the many applications used by Space Norway’s clients in the offshore, fishing and merchant sectors, even in the harshest of environments.

SAILOR XTR 1m and 65cm antennas from Cobham Satcom
SAILOR XTR 65 cm and 1m antenna series are approved for Ka-band Anker service on THOR 7.

Press inquiries

Randi Ellingsen

Title
Head of PR and Communication, Space Norway.
Tel
+47 988 77 675

Commercial enquiries

Jan Hetland

Title
Director, Data Services, Space Norway.
Tel
+47 958 71 588
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Press release

Space Norway builds radar satellite system for real-time maritime surveillance

Pressemelding: Space Norway bygger satelittsystem for sanntidsovervåking av norske havområder

On the 25th of August 2022 Space Norway AS signed contracts with vendors and will immediately start building a radar satellite system optimized for maritime surveillance in Norwegian areas of interest.

The payloads will be developed and built by Norwegian suppliers, while the satellite bus and the radar antenna will be built in the UK. The first satellite will be launched early 2025. In the following years, the plan is to launch a number of radar satellites to establish a constellation.

The satellite system named MicroSAR is unique in the way it can detect relatively small vessels in a very large area simultaneously. As of today we don’t know about any radar satellite systems with the same mix of capabilities.

Norway’s sea areas are seven times larger than the Norwegian land area. The Arctic and the High North is Norway’s most important strategic area of interest. This puts strong requirements on situational awareness in these areas. AIS (Automatic Identification System) has for many years been used for maritime surveillance. The challenge is that AIS is a system that requires the vessels themselves to send the required and correct AIS Information. Hence, AIS is a system based on cooperation. Today we estimate that 5 % of the vessels either does not send out AIS Information or are transmitting false information. Satellites with a radar, such as MicroSAR, will be able to detect these vessels independent of the use of AIS. MicroSAR satellites will bring an AIS Receiver to correlate radar detections with AIS Information.

The MicroSAR System is optimized for covering Norwegian needs. However, it will also offer and deliver maritime surveillance services in a global market in the same way as other radar satellites in space today, including surveillance of ship traffic, combating illegal fishing, search and rescue and oil spill detection.

Space Norway works closely with the Norwegian Armed Forces who will be the main customer and buy services and products from MicroSAR when in operation.

Space Norway also work in close cooperation with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT). KSAT establishes, operates, and owns the MicroSAR Ground System, utilizing their existing global network. On behalf of Space Norway, they will provide services related to satellite operations and downlink of MicroSAR data. KSAT will also be responsible for marketing and sales of MicroSAR services and products as part of their portfolio, both in a national and an international market.

The Satellite System will be owned and controlled by Space Norway. This gives Norway an important strategic independent capability under national control to cover their needs for maritime surveillance.

Space Norway has signed contracts with the following vendors to build the first MicroSAR Satellite:

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) is a UK company with long experience in building satellites. SSTL will deliver the satellite platform and be responsible for integration of the payloads on board. SSTL will also be responsible for building the radar antenna through their sub-contractor Oxford Space Systems (OSS).

 

The payloads will be developed and produced by the Norwegian companies WideNorth, Eidsvoll Electronics (EIDEL), Kongsberg Seatex and Norwegian Defence research Establishment (FFI). Hence, the project will also contribute significantly to business development of Norwegian companies.

 

Space Norway’s current plans are to launch the first satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 as a Rideshare. When establishing a constellation, the satellites will be launched on dedicated launchers. The establishment of Andøya Spaceport may result in future MicroSAR satellites being launched from Norway.

 

The MicroSAR satellites will follow polar orbits in various orbital planes at an altitude of about 600 km and will weigh about 300 kg.

Contact person:

Dag H Stølan
CSO and Director Infrastructure
Phone: +47 400 29 601
E-mail: dag-hugo.stolan@spacenorway.no

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Space Norway celebrates sustainability achievements with Eco-Lighthouse (Miljøfyrtårn) re-certification.

Telenor Satellite is re-certified for sustainability efforts by Eco-Lighthouse / Miljøfyrtårn.

Space Norway has been Eco-Lighthouse / Miljøfyrtårn certified since 2010 and recently, we have received our fourth re-certification.

A sustainable future needs real action

Sustainability and responsible business have been core values for Space Norway for many years within the company itself, as well as externally with its partners and suppliers. In 2010 the company became Eco-Lighthouse (Miljøfyrtårn) certified and is proud to have been re-certified for the fourth time, proving its commitment to a sustainable future.

A sustainable future needs real action and a concerted effort, and we take our share of the responsibility by taking concrete sustainability measures. As an Eco-Lighthouse, we also contribute to achieving several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Space Norway decided to apply for Eco-Lighthouse (Miljøfyrtårn) certification back in 2010 when we were looking at our sustainability goals in general and joining the scheme was a tool we used to become compliant. Over the coming years, the scheme has become more recognised, resulting in the majority of companies we work with also becoming certified.

Eco-Lighthouse (Miljøfyrtårn) began in Norway and in 2014 was approved by the Government followed by, in 2017, approval from the EU. Companies must match a set of Environmental Management System (EMS) criteria to be approved and must go through a re-certification process every three years.

Awareness is key

Although a lot of significant sustainability improvements are reached through advancement in technology, Director Projects at Space Norway, Tone Liljeberg, explained how awareness is vital in driving forward the company’s sustainability goals, backed up by design improvements, internal strategies and processes.

“It is really important that all stakeholders are aware of what we are trying to do and have sustainability and the environment in their focus. This goes from internally with our own employees, to the suppliers we work with and their sub-contractors This is not something we can do alone. Being Eco-Lighthouse certified requires us to have an open dialog with vendors to ensure they are focusing on the environment, power consumption, recyclables and so on.”

 

Better efficiency with technology advancements

One major advancement in technology that has brought energy savings has been the introduction of surface panel heating on our antennas. The surface heating replaced the older style of hot air heating to act as a method of de-icing when it snowed. The new surface heating technology works similarly to a heating blanket and is more efficient as it is in direct contact with the back of the antenna. This new advancement initially resulted in a significant reduction of 1,500 watts/m2 down to 350 watts/m2, but a final reduction, which brought consumption down to 250 watts/m2, was led by ‘smart people thinking smarter’, said Ms. Liljeberg.

“Temperature sensors allow us to just heat the individual areas of the antenna which are snow covered. So, big changes in technology have led to the first major reduction, but by having this core value and focus on our minds, we have been able to ask ourselves, ‘can we do this smarter?’ And so, we have developed it further and seen more reductions.”

Image showing Nittedal antenna- Antenna Monica Monitoring and Control system
Ground antenna at the Nittedal Teleport.

Eco-friendly products and suppliers

Another measure we have put in place is increasing our use of ECO-certified suppliers and products we use for our canteen, cleaning and office supplies at Nittedal Teleport. In a review of the 30 largest suppliers to our Nittedal Teleport in 2021, a total of 71% were Eco-certified.

 

Impact of Covid

The Covid-19 pandemic of course saw a big reduction in our carbon footprint as it did for companies across the world. Telenor Satellite reported an all-time low for flights and general travel during the pandemic. Now that travel is opening up again, we are going to continue to carry out some meetings remotely and be selective over our travel needs.

 

Disposal of waste

Telenor Satellite ensures as much of its waste as possible is sorted and recycled, along with ensuring staff do not use single-use plastics in the office. The equipment we use is packaged in wood, so it can be recycled. In the canteen, everyone uses re-usable cups, cutlery and crockery. When suppliers attend the Nittedal site, we make sure they have containers close by for correct waste disposal.

 

We can all make a difference

While we are proud of the changes and reductions we have made to be more sustainable, improvements are always possible. Awareness is key for us and that is something we convey to all our stakeholders. We will not compromise on these values. The big changes will come with advancements in technology, but we can all work together to make the small changes significant.

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Space Norway supports NTNU students in the building of world’s first selfie-taking satellite – SELFIESAT.

The picture demontrates ORBIT NTNU team that developed SELFIESAT
ORBIT NTNU team visiting Nittedal Teleport. From left: Soraj Singh Bisal, Mahdan Gazimagamaev, Nikolai Andresen, Jonas Krymski, Mathias Ådlandsvik Askeland, Lea Rose Nordhei, Magnus Mælhum, Jarle Steinberg, Mari Linnerud, Ulrik Falk-Petersen.

For Space Norway, ensuring the future of the satellite communications industry is a prime concern, and we are delighted to have played a part in an exciting project which has just come to fruition.

Passion for space

ORBIT NTNU is made up of a group of Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) students who have a passion for space and spend much of their free time pursuing that passion. With the backing of a number of space technology companies in Norway (including Space Norway), the group, made up of students from fields ranging from mechanical design and electronics to software engineering, management and marketing, has successfully built its first satellite using commercial parts developed for regular consumers and adapting them for space.

Satellite built around Raspberry Pi

Starting in 2018 as an ORBIT NTNU pilot project and using a Raspberry Pi as their payload computer, the students have succeeded in building a satellite which can operate in a low earth orbit (530-558 km) featuring five cameras and an external LCD screen onboard. The external LCD-display displays pictures sent in by the public and one of the cameras, mounted on a measuring tape arm, photographs the screen with the Earth in the background.

After several years of dedicated work by the ORBIT NTNU team, the satellite was ready for launch in March 2022. It was sent into orbit on a Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter 5 rideshare mission on 25 May 2022, launched by SpaceX from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

Space Norway supports space engineers of the future

The relationship between NTNU and Space Norway began with a request from ORBIT NTNU to Space Norway’s Director of Satellite Operations, Richard Buckley, for their team to visit the company’s facilities so that they could understand how a satellite company operates. Unfortunately, it took a while to put a visit in place due to the severe restrictions placed on the satellite operations department by COVID. However, once the two teams had met it became clear that Space Norway could provide technical support.

 

A rewarding experience

Peter Elliott from the Satellite Operations team here at Space Norway has been providing technical support and advice to the students. “It has been enjoyable to be working with students who exhibit such enthusiasm for the space business”.

Space Norway has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with ORBIT NTNU to provide both technical and financial support.

 

Looking to the future

Richard Buckley also sees other benefits going into the future, “Finding exceptional talent is always a challenge for companies, particularly in the field of technology, but we have come across many gifted young people through the course of the project, and we are keen to continue to support them and their peers as they learn more about space and the satellite industry.”

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ASBM

Preparing to launch

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.