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KSAT launches ground station network for the smallsat market

(August 2014) The innovative KSAT light network has been developed primarily for the rapidly emerging smallsat market. Offering significantly reduced service prices, the new network still retains the market leading characteristics of the existing higher specification KSAT large antenna network:

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  • Unequalled geographical locations with the Arctic and Antarctic sites enabling polar orbiting satellite contacts on 26 out of 28 possible passes per 24 hours: KSAT pole-to-pole
  • Mid-latitude sites for low-inclination orbits and extremely low latency polar orbit downloads
  • Small aperture S- , X- and Ka-band capable antenna systems
  • Optical fiber data backhaul from all sites, except TrollSat (Antarctic) which uses a high-capacity satellite link
  • The entire network is operated from the KSAT Tromsø HQ Network Operations Center (TNOC)

Low cost – but not low quality: KSAT light antennas are deployed at existing KSAT sites with a proven and highly reliable, rugged and well maintained infrastructure. Customer interfaces, centralized through the Tromsø TNOC are handled by the same friendly and efficient, can-do staff that has managed to turn more than 65 government and commercial satellite operators worldwide into loyal and satisfied business partners.

KSAT scheduler:

Coinciding with the launch of KSAT light, a new web-based and interactive pass scheduling application is being rolled out. KSAT scheduler allows a customer to schedule his selected passes himself, choosing from a clear presentation of pass opportunities corresponding to his satellites’ TLEs and requiring no further action from that point on. The system will allow for late changes or scheduling of additional passes just hours before the event.

Rolf Skatteboe, KSAT CEO: ”A large part of KSAT’s current success is based on being close to our market, our customers and to be willing to go the extra mile to find a good solution for every one of them. It has become obvious that the market is changing with the emergence of operators and satellite designs that do not require the very high performance of the current network and who will trade some performance for significantly lower service prices. The KSAT light network currently being deployed is the result of discussions with a large number of smallsat customers and we are confident that it will fit the business plan requirements of this important market segment.”

KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services) is the world’s leading provider of polar orbiting satellite ground station services, currently involving in excess of 16 000 monthly satellite passes on behalf of more than 70 missions. Our ground station sites are ideally placed for low latency TT&C and data download with three near-polar stations at Svalbard and Tromsø (Arctic) and TrollSat (Antarctic) as well as four mid-latitude stations in Hartebeesthoek (South Africa), Mauritius, Dubai and Singapore. The sites are populated with a large number of antenna systems operating in the S, X, Ka and UHF frequency bands. All the stations are remotely operated from our Tromsø HQ control center and benefit from terrestrial fiber connections for fast and secure data backhaul to the customers (high-capacity GEO satellite connection from TrollSat).

For more information on KSAT Light please contact Stig-Are Thrana, tel. +47 922 18 304, mail stiga@ksat.no