HawkEye 360 Selects KSAT to Provide Ground Station Services for Pathfinder Mission
April 18, 2018

HawkEye 360, Inc., has selected Norway’s Kongsberg Satellite Service (KSAT) to provide ground station services for its pathfinder mission.

HawkEye 360 plans to use its commercial satellite constellations to identify and geolocate a broad set of radio frequency (RF) signals, and is developing a suite of analytic products to process those signals and help provide unique insights that solve hard challenges for global customers. The agreement with KSAT will allow information about signals detected by HawkEye 360’s Pathfinder satellites to be downlinked directly to KSAT’s ground station in Svalbard, Norway. HawkEye 360 will then process the signals at its Herndon, Virginia headquarters. 

“We are pleased to collaborate with KSAT, a company that offers a demonstrable heritage of successful ground operations, a global network of sites, and excellent customer support,” said John Serafini, Chief Executive Officer of HawkEye 360. “This is an exciting step forward for our team as we ready for a Pathfinder launch later this year.”

KSAT is a leading provider of ground station communication services to LEO satellites, with a special focus on polar orbits. From its headquarters in Norway, the company has been pioneering the ground segment business for 50 years. Its Svalbard Ground Station, located on 78 ͦ North, is the world’s largest commercial ground station that, due to the unique location, provides all-orbit support.

Utilization of the Svalbard ground station will enable fresh and timely data reception of HawkEye 360 data. HawkEye 360 will be using the KSAT Lite product platform, an industry-leading NewSpace network developed by KSAT. The standardized KSAT Lite solution will also enable HawkEye 360 to tie in additional stations in KSAT’s global network to further enhance near real-time delivery of their data product. 

“KSAT is honored that HawkEye 360 has chosen KSAT and KSAT Lite as their ground station platform and to be able to be part of their success going forward,” said Rolf Skatteboe, KSAT CEO and President.  “In addition, we look forward to working with HawkEye360 on further exploring the use of  HawkEye 360’s innovative geoanalytics products in our SAR division, with a focus on maritime surveillance”.