Kongsberg Satellite Services signs contract with EUMETSAT
Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) has signed an expanded and extended agreement for ground station support for the European meteorological organization EUMETSAT. EUMETSAT will install three new antenna systems at KSAT’s Svalbard facility and the systems will be maintained by KSAT. The systems are Ka-band and constitute new technology. Svalbard is particularly well suited for this due to the dry Arctic atmosphere.
The agreement covers maintenance and site operation for as much as five antenna systems, and the agreement has, with options, a value of 550 MNOKin the period from 2016 to 2042.
- This contract strengthens KSAT’s position as the world leading provider of ground station services. I’d also like to emphasize how important this contract is for the long term activity at our Svalbard facility, says KSAT President Rolf Skatteboe.- It is important that we uphold business activity and settlement at Svalbard. KSAT is important for the local community, and I recognize that this contract supports the company’s activity at Svalbard, says Minister of Trade and Industry Monica Mæland.
The MeTop Second Generation (SG) is a continuation of the existing operational weather satellite systems, that are also supported by KSAT from Svalbard. MeTop SG is a six satellite system providing important information for everyday weather forecasting as well as long term prognoses.
The service will be delivered form KSAT’s station at Svalbard and the activity will commence in 2016. This agreement strengthens KSAT’s position as the world leading provider of services related to satellite operation, control and data reception. With this agreement KSAT is the world’s largest provider of ground stations serving the operational weather satellite systems from both EUMETSAT and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA).
