Arctic Broadband Satellites Passed Tests in Space and Have Been Handed Over to Space Norway
In their highly elliptical orbit, the Arctic broadband satellites move slowly at high altitude over the North Pole and swiftly pass the South Pole at a closer distance. As the satellites overlap, they will provide continuous broadband coverage north of the 65° N latitude. This will result in a very different everyday life for i.a. aircraft, fishing vessels, research vessels, cruise ships, coast guards and military forces operating in the Arctic. (Animation: Space Norway)
“Norway now controls a space capability of great significance for all types of operations in the Arctic, including for the Norwegian Armed Forces and NATO allies,” says the state-owned company Space Norway.
In August, SpaceX launched two Norwegian-owned broadband satellites at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.
These will provide continuous broadband coverage across the Arctic for the first time. Today, such coverage is either limited or completely unavailable in the High North, especially between Svalbard and the North Pole.
The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) is led by the company Space Norway, which is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries.
Now, the satellites are in place in their highly elliptical orbit, fully tested by the supplier Northrop Grumman, and formally handed over to Space Norway.
“This means that Norway now controls a space capability of great significance for all types of operations in the Arctic, including for the Norwegian Armed Forces and our NATO allies,” Space Norway stated on Thursday.
The ASBM program's cooperation partners and customers are the Norwegian Armed Forces, the US Space Force, the American communications company Viasat, and the EU Commission.
The satellites are carrying payloads for the first three to serve military and civilian radio spectrums, while the EU Commission has a Norwegian radiation monitor instrument that will benefit the development of the next generation of Galileo navigation satellites.
At KSAT's base in Tromsø, Northern Norway, ground antennas have been built to communicate with the broadband satellites. The control center is also located here, where employees of HEOSAT and KSAT will operate the satellites collectively. (Photo: High North News)
Will be operated from Tromsø
Space Norway's subsidiaries, HEOSAT and Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) in Tromsø, Northern Norway, will cooperate in operating the satellites, which have a 15-year lifespan.
A composite team will operate the satellite control from KSAT's operational center on top of the island Tromsøya, where large ground satellites will communicate with their respective satellites. KSAT has also built an additional ground station at Bardufoss, south of Tromsø.
The payloads will be operated by the customers themselves and have also been fully tested in collaboration with them.
- The Norwegian Armed Forces will manage its payloads (X-band) from its satellite station at Eggemoen, Southern Norway. Space Norway will hand over ownership of the payloads and associated ground infrastructure to the Armed Forces in early November.
- The US Space Force will operate its payloads (Enhanced Polar System - Recapitalization) from a ground station in Alaska.
- Viasat will manage its payloads (Ka-band) from its technical center in London and aims to start operations in November.
According to Space Norway, it is expected that users in the Arctic will benefit from the new broadband capacity in the new year.
More about the ASBM program
• Space Norway initiated the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission work in 2014.
• First, the company signed contracts with the Norwegian defense and the satellite service provider Inmarsat (now part of Viasat).
• Later, the US military forces and the EU Commission also showed interest – respectively, due to the need for broadband coverage in Alaska and mapping of the radiation environment, considering the planning of radiation protection for future satellites in the EU space program.
• The ASBM program was decided to be carried out in 2019, and the building of the satellites started at Northrop Grumman's factory in Virginia, USA.
• The two satellites measure 3x3x4 meters, have a wingspan of 27 meters, and weigh about 2 tonnes. The launch took place, as mentioned, under the auspices of the US space transport company SpaceX.
• The project has an investment framework of about USD 450 million, and the satellites’ capacity has been sold out for their entire lifespan.
