The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and BridgeSat announce Partnership to benefit the BridgeSat Optical Communications Network and the SSC Universal Space Network

The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and BridgeSat, Inc., announced today a long-term partnership under which BridgeSat will install satellite optical communications equipment at certain of SSC’s established radio-frequency (RF) ground sites and the two companies will cooperate commercially for the benefit of their respective customer bases. 

SSC owns and operates a global network of ground stations to provide secure and reliable access to a large number of satellites seeking radio frequency (RF) services. BridgeSat is developing a global optical communications network that will offer secure delivery of data from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites at fast speeds and low cost. The partnership provides BridgeSat with access to certain of SSC’s high quality existing ground stations and creates incentives for BridgeSat and SSC to cooperate commercially for the benefit of their customers in leveraging their respective capabilities in optical and RF satellite communication solutions.  

“SSC is pleased to enter this partnership with BridgeSat, with scope for mutual beneficial commercial cooperation going forward given our complementary capabilities. Optical communications is well suited when satellite operators need to downlink large quantities of data, but have limited access to RF spectrum. BridgeSat is a perfect partner for us, as they are developing a commercial optical communications systems we feel fits well with our mission,” said Leif Österbo, SSC’s President of Satellite Management Services. 

“We are proud to be working in a partnership with SSC as we work towards achieving our goals to commercialize space-based optical communications. The BridgeSat global optical communications network will greatly benefit from using the SSC sites to serve satellite operators generating large amounts of on-orbit data.” said Matt Thoms, General Manager of BridgeSat. “SSC’s operational expertise, sophisticated network, and strong connection to the satellite community make them an ideal partner for serving this need for high-bandwidth communication.”