14 October 2025 – The new deployment will extend what is a long-standing relationship and enable Space Norway to efficiently deliver nearly 200 linear channels to its customers, building on Media Excel’s proven track record of delivering five-nines reliability in mission-critical broadcast environments.

The HERO 6000 series, Media Excel’s flagship appliance, combines best-in-class video quality with sub-second latency and broad codec support, including AVC, HEVC, AV1, and VVC, while enabling flexible deployment on-premise, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments. Media Excel’s AI-enabled DIVA (Dynamic Intelligent Video Adaptation) encoding enhances these capabilities by dynamically adjusting encoding profiles in real time, maintaining optimal viewing quality even under fluctuating network conditions.

“We chose Media Excel’s HERO platform not only for its proven reliability and flexibility, but because it directly supports our mission to deliver secure, uninterrupted services to our customers,” said Gunnar Ånesland, Director Broadcasting Products & engineering at Space Norway. “The HERO platform’s capabilities for AI-enabled encoding means we can automatically optimize video quality and bandwidth usage. This allows us to further enhance our offering, improve efficiency, and continue to provide our customers with consistent, high-quality video services.”

Narayanan Rajan, CEO of Media Excel, commented: “We’re proud to have been chosen by Space Norway, and this partnership really underlines how competitive Media Excel is when it comes to delivering best-in-class encoding. By deploying the HERO 6000, Space Norway can ensure broadcast-grade reliability while reducing operational complexity. This deployment also highlights how Media Excel is helping operators to optimize total cost of ownership for complex distribution workflows, an increasingly critical priority for service providers who need to do more with less.”

“The Falcon 9 launch service was selected after a competitive process. SpaceX has an impressive track record of launches, and we count on their reliable services for THOR 8, just as we did for last year’s successful launch of the two ASBM satellites”, says Peter Olsen, Head of Satcom Division at Space Norway.

“We’re proud of the trust Space Norway has in SpaceX and Falcon 9 to safely launch their THOR 8 spacecraft to orbit,” said SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales, Stephanie Bednarek. “We look forward to this exciting mission.”

SpaceX was the first company to commercialize the reuse of its rockets, and to date, they have completed more than 500 successful launches and recoveries of Falcon first stage boosters.

Expanding Capabilities

THOR 8 is a major undertaking for Space Norway. The satellite will both replace older satellites being phased out in the coming years and provide increased capacity and service offerings for our customers. THOR 8 is part of Space Norway’s multi-orbit strategy, with satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary orbit (GEO), and highly elliptical orbit (HEO). This portfolio allows us to serve a broad spectrum of customers with widely varying needs.

Operated from Oslo

THOR 8 will be operated by Space Norway from Oslo, and the company is well underway in the preparations needed to incorporate the new satellite into the overall service offering, both at the satellite operations facility and at the teleport where service platforms will be located. The French company Thales Alenia Space has started building the satellite, and Space Norway is establishing a local presence at the satellite manufacturing facilities to closely monitor the construction process.

Capacity

THOR 8 is a multi-purpose satellite that offers capacity for both data services and broadcasting. Intelsat has already secured lifetime usage—at least 15 years—for its broadcasting customers. Read more.

THOR 8 carries two dedicated payloads for broadcasting in Europe and the Nordics, as well as payloads for data services to commercial and governmental customers.

The long-term collaboration between Space Norway and Allente is based on powerful and inter-satellite diversification, using Thor5, Thor6, and Thor7 satellites. Following the expansion to the newly announced Thor8 program, the parties have agreed to continue their successful relationship.

“This agreement marks a pivotal moment in our efforts to expand and optimize satellite services for Nordic audiences”, said Ole Ledang, Director of Broadcasting Division at Space Norway.  “Supported by a dynamic and technically advanced encoding system and satellite uplink infrastructure at Nittedal Teleport, Space Norway provides reliable, flexible, and secure long-term solutions for Allente’s DTH platform,”

Jon-Espen Nergård, CTO of Allente, added: “This agreement secures the capacity we need to keep delivering the TV experience our customers expect. A reliable, high-quality service, available everywhere in the Nordics, whether in cities, small towns, or the most remote locations. Allente will continue to provide uninterrupted access to the content people love today and for many years to come”.

Background Information:

Space Norway has established itself as a leader in European satellite communications, providing essential services to diverse regions. Allente, known for its extensive reach in the Nordic pay-TV market, continues to innovate and adapt to evolving consumer demands.

Oslo, Norway – September 10, 2025 - This strategic alliance leverages Space Norway’s expertise in content aggregation, transcoding, and streaming of TV channels, alongside Telenor’s robust end-user solutions and streaming experience. Together, they aim to redefine the viewing experience for consumers by offering cutting-edge technology and diverse content options. 

Space Norway Director Broadcasting Division, Ole Ledang, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating “ We are delighted to strengthen our role as a trusted partner for Telenor Nordics, ensuring the delivery of top-tier, efficient IPTV and linear OTT streaming services to its Nordic pay-TV customers. This partnership enables us to adapt even further and remain fully committed to meeting the evolving demands for efficiency and quality.” 

Emil Hansen, VP Nordic TV in Telenor Nordics, added, “Our top priority is to provide value to our customers across Finland, Norway and Sweden through seamless, high-quality viewing experiences, on any device, anywhere. We are very happy to extend Telenor’s partnership with Space Norway and join forces in strengthening our presence in the Nordic market through scalable digital solutions.”   

The Starlink satellite constellation will enable Space Norway to provide low-latency LEO services to maritime mobility clients globally, and land-based enterprise clients throughout the EMEA region.

The Starlink LEO service is set to roll out in the coming weeks and will be supported by Space Norway’s customer portal allowing clients to effectively manage their service by monitoring usage, as well as upgrading and downgrading their service. Clients will be able to purchase the necessary hardware to run Starlink services directly from Space Norway.

Space Norway has signed a contract with SubCom for the full system supply of the Arctic Way Cable System, including survey, design, manufacturing, and installation. Scheduled to commence service in 2028, this new system will become a critical asset for transmitting data traffic between the mainland, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard.

“Space Norway owns, develops and manages critical space infrastructure and subsea cable systems. Establishing this new cable system is imperative to ensure uninterrupted connectivity for the Arctic community and to support Norway’s strategic interests. With SubCom’s proven track record in managing Arctic projects, they are the optimal partner for this significant program,” says Morten Tengs, CEO of Space Norway.

“SubCom has maintained a successful relationship with Space Norway for decades, including our participation in the supply of the original Svalbard cable system,” said David Coughlan, CEO of SubCom. “Our experience with the customer and our expertise in the region – one of the most unique marine environments on the planet – will enable SubCom to efficiently produce and deploy this critical subsea cable infrastructure on behalf of Space Norway.”

“While establishing new fibre infrastructure, we will continue to utilise the two existing cables to Svalbard as long as they remain functional, serving as a backup for Arctic Way. Although these cables are approaching the end of their 25-year service lifespan, we expect them to remain operational for several years past 2028,” explains Rune Jensen, Director of Subsea Cable Systems at Space Norway.

You can find out more about the project in the official press release from the Norwegian Government (in Norwegian).