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.

The HEOSAT-project has reached a key milestone and began end-to-end testing of the ground segment (for the satellite system) during the second half of June.

In the summer of 2024 two large satellites will be launched into a highly-elliptical orbit going across the north pole. ASBM (Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission) is Space Norway’s major initiative to pioneer providing broadband communication to the Arctic region.

During the construction of the two satellites there is a major test program implemented to ensure that all the equipment onboard is built to sustain the extreme conditions offered in a space environment and experienced during a launch. The testing involves exposing the individual satellite components to temperatures, radiation levels and vibration levels equivalent of those experienced during launch and in space.

During the construction of the two satellites there is a major test program implemented to ensure that all the equipment onboard is built to sustain the extreme conditions offered in a space environment and experienced during a launch. The testing involves exposing the individual satellite components to temperatures, radiation levels and vibration levels equivalent of those experienced during launch and in space.

The purpose of the ongoing end-to-end testing of the ground segment is to secure that the ground stations are properly connected with the customers such that all communication and exchange of data, for example ephemeris, telemetry and commands, are transferred according to plan.

The two-week long test campaign involves teams of personnel from Space Norway, the satellite provider Northrop Grumman and the ground segment provider KSAT. The customers are also an active part of the test campaign, and representatives of the Norwegian and US Armed Forces as well as Inmarsat are standby to confirm data reception at their respective ends, as well as ready to report any possible deviations from specification. In this respect, the end-to-end test campaign serves as a first full-scale test of the supply chain from the satellite operations control center to the customers.

In a few years, the EU launches its next generation Galileo navigation satellites, the ones that give us positioning data, for gadgets such as mobile phones and watches. Together, Space Norway and IDEAS facilitate radiation data that will help the EU in planning the Galileo launch.

After detachment from the space rocket, it will take the Galileo satellites several months to reach their designated orbit, and during this period, they are exposed to severe radiation. The phase of finding its correct orbital path is called orbit raising, and for those who launch the satellites it is important to protect them as much as possible during this period. Space Norway is building two large satellites which will move in a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) in order to provide mobile broadband communication to the Arctic. For each orbit made, the satellites pass through the same altitudes as the Galileo satellites pass through during their orbit raising. With data from Space Norway’s satellites, the EU will have more accurate information about this radiation, and thus be able to better protect their future navigation satellites.

Space Norway and IDEAS cooperate in including a radiation monitor on one of the HEO satellites, and together they have made an agreement with the EU Commission on delivery of radiation data. With IDEAS’ monitor on board Space Norway’s satellite, Norwegian companies contribute to both national and European space targets and efforts. IDEAS is a Norwegian high-tech company with special competence within radiation, and with the support of the Norwegian Space Agency they have built a radiation monitor for mapping space radiation.

The monitor will deliver valuable radiation information from the unusual highly elliptical orbit, and from the Norwegian point of view, it is a considerable contribution to future space projects in the EU – especially to the EU navigation program. Based on traditionally important research within space weather and solar radiation, Norway demonstrates an important contribution to the EU space ambitions.

This cooperation is in line with the ambition of the new Norwegian space strategy of establishing robust space infrastructure supporting national security needs.

Space Norway will cooperate with the satellite operator Inmarsat and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence to offer mobile broadband coverage to civilian and military users in the Arctic. Two satellites will be built by Northrop Grumman and are scheduled to be launched by SpaceX in late 2022. The ground station will be established in North Norway and ensure Norwegian control of this critically important capability.

“This will be a milestone for people in the Arctic who have very limited or no broadband access in the region,” says Jostein Rønneberg, Space Norway ́s CEO.“We are building a robust communications capability in an area strategically important to Norway and our partners. This will be vital for surveillance, fishery control and rescue operations in the vast sea area that is under Norwegian control, and will significantly improve our ability to operate in the High North”.

Space Norway, a limited liability company, owned by the Norwegian government, has established a new subsidiary company, Space Norway HEOSAT AS, to manage the program and operate the two satellites together with Kongsberg Satellites Services in Tromsø, Norway. The program is fully financed with customer agreements in place for the service life of the satellites.

“After a multi-year dedicated effort, we are both proud and happy to have closed customer agreements with Inmarsat and with the Norwegian and US militaries”, says Program Director Kjell-Ove Skare. “This is an exciting collaborative effort, which ensures a cost-effective solution for all parties. Now we are eager to start the real work of building the satellites and the ground stations. We look forward to providing the world’s first and only mobile broadband service in the Arctic region, something which has long been an important objective for the Norwegian authorities.”

Both satellites will be launched in late 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into a Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), which will provide full coverage from 65 degrees North, which in practical terms is the area North of the Arctic Circle. Each of the two satellites will carry multiple payloads, and the system is scheduled to be operational for at least 15 years, with users able to switch between current geostationary satellites and the HEO satellites. Each satellite will have a mass of 2000 kg and provide six-watt power through their sun arrays.