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LuxSpace and ORBCOMM Awarded with Multi-Year Contract by European Maritime Safety Agency

LuxSpace Sàrl, an affiliate of OHB SE and its partner, ORBCOMM Inc. announced the award of a four-year satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) data service framework contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). Headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, EMSA is one of the largest consolidators of AIS data and is responsible for maritime safety, pollution-by-ship monitoring and ship security for the European Union and its Member States.

The EMSA framework contract is funded for up to 10.2 Million Euro for the fixed 4-year service period. The contract award was the result of a competitive bidding process among providers of space-based AIS data services.

LuxSpace will provide ORBCOMM’s global real-time data feed of satellite-based AIS (SAT-AIS) data, which will be used by EMSA, other EU agencies and EU Member States for ship tracking and other maritime navigational, safety and security applications.

“We are very pleased to be selected by EMSA as their SAT-AIS data service partner,” said Thomas Görlach, Managing Director of LuxSpace. “This achievement is an important step in our roadmap to establish further innovative services based on our next generation micro satellite product line, Triton-X.”

“The EMSA contract is a great win for ORBCOMM and our partner, LuxSpace, and we look forward to providing industry-leading satellite AIS data services to EMSA and its member states. ORBCOMM’s AIS service delivers comprehensive and reliable global coverage with high refresh rates, which provides a complete situational picture of vessel activity worldwide,” said Marc Eisenberg, ORBCOMM’s Chief Executive Officer.

Since 2009 LuxSpace has been in the SAT-AIS business both as micro-satellite manufacturer and AIS data service provider. LuxSpace, under contract with ORBCOMM, built two AIS-enabled satellites (VesselSat 1 & VesselSat 2), which were operated by ORBCOMM and provided AIS data services to various customers around the globe. Currently, an advanced AIS micro-satellite is under development using the LuxSpace Triton-2 platform through a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Jochen Harms, Coordinator of OHB Services added: “The successful development of space-based services by LuxSpace also supports and strengthens the position of the OHB Group in their service and application business.”