![Svalsat Antenna dome from inside](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Svalsat_Antenna_dome_from_inside.jpg)
Svalbard Satellite Station ( no, Svalbard satellittstasjon) or SvalSat is a
satellite ground station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...
located on
Platåberget near
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...
in
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
, Norway. Opened in 1997, it is operated by
Kongsberg Satellite Services
Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) is a Norwegian-based company. KSAT has the most extensive ground station network globally, and the world's largest ground station for support of polar orbiting satellites located at 78° North - Svalbard, ...
(KSAT), a joint venture between
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is one of three business units of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG) of Norway and the supplier of defence and space related systems and products, mainly anti-ship missiles, military communications, and command and weapon ...
and the
Norwegian Space Centre
The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) (formerly the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC); Norwegian'':'' ''Norsk Romsenter'') is a Norwegian government agency that follows up Norway's public space activities. NOSA's goal is to ensure that Norway benefits ...
(NSC). SvalSat and KSAT's
Troll Satellite Station
Troll Satellite Station ( no, Troll satellittstasjon), commonly abbreviated TrollSat, is a satellite ground station located at Troll in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The earth station is owned by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a joint ventu ...
(TrollSat) in Antarctica are the only ground stations that can see a low altitude
polar orbit
A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...
ing satellite (e.g., in
sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
) on every revolution as the earth rotates. As of December 2019 the facility consists of almost 100 multi-mission and customer-dedicated antennas which operate in the
C,
L,
S,
X and
K bands. The station provides ground services to more satellites than any other facility in the world.
Customers with their own installations include the
(EUMETSAT), the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...
(NASA), the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
(ESA) and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA). The station also reads and distributes data from the Japanese
Hinode solar research satellite. The facility has seen a large increase in smaller customers after 2004, when the
Svalbard Undersea Cable System
The Svalbard Undersea Cable System is a twin submarine communications cable which connects Svalbard to the mainland of Norway. The two optical fiber cable consist of two segments, from Harstad to Breivika in Andøy, and from Breivika to Hotell ...
started providing a fiber Internet connection. Concessions for downloading are only issued to civilian satellites, yet some data has been indirectly used by armed forces. There is a disagreement as to whether this constitutes a breach of the
Svalbard Treaty.
History
The
European Space Research Organization (ESRO) established
Kongsfjord Telemetry Station
Kongsfjord Telemetry Station ( no, Kongsfjord telemetristasjon) was a satellite ground station located nearby Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway. It was used between 1967 and 1974 as one of the four initial ground stations which were part of the E ...
in
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund ("New Ålesund") is a small town in Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula ( Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of Kongsfjorden. The company town is owned and ...
as one of its four initial
European Space Tracking Network stations. The facility remained in use from 1967 to 1974,
[Øvregard (1996): 330] but was closed as it was not suitable for ESRO's second generation of satellites.
[Kriege and Russo (2000): 142] During the planning of the station, Longyearbyen had been proposed as a location, and it was largely political concerns by Norwegian authorities to create permanent activity in Ny-Ålesund which lead ESRO to accept the location.
In the 1990s, NSC operated
Tromsø Satellite Station (TSS), which was used as a ground station for a limited number of satellites. After
Rolf Skår
Rolf Skår (born 13 May 1941) is a Norwegian engineer. He was born in Karmøy as the son of a farmer and fisherman. In 1966 Skår graduated from Norwegian Institute of Technology where he studied under Prof. Balchen.
During his studies he had s ...
was appointed director of NSC, plans were launched to try to win the ground station contract for NASA's planned
Earth Observing System
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans ...
(EOS). NASA was considering locating the ground station in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, at
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...
in Antarctica or at
Esrange
Esrange Space Center (short form Esrange) is a rocket range and research centre located about 40 kilometers east of the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high-altitude balloons, investigation of the au ...
in Sweden. Skår invited a NASA delegation to visit Svalbard, and from 1996 NSC and NASA started negotiating a contract to establish a ground station at Longyearbyen.
Svalbard was chosen because of its high
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
from which every polar-orbiting satellite above can be seen on every revolution as the earth rotates within its orbital plane. For the EOS program, Svalbard was supplemented by
Poker Flat Research Range
The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is a launch facility and rocket range for sounding rockets in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on a site at Chatanika, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Fairbanks and 1.5 degrees south of the Arcti ...
in
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
, Alaska. Construction of the road up to Platåberget started in 1996 and a relay station was built to send the data to
Isfjord Radio
Isfjord Radio is a coast radio station, weather station and hotel located at Kapp Linné on the island Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. The station was established in 1933, and has played an important role in the telecommunications between the ...
before being sent onwards to a
geostationary satellite
A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...
. The first installation was an
parabolic antenna
A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or pa ...
with S and X band capability.
The first satellite to use SvalSat was
Landsat 7
Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed and ...
, which was launched on 15 April 1999. It was followed up by three other EOS satellites:
Terra
Terra may often refer to:
* Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess
* An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet
Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy
* Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...
,
Aqua
Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to:
Arts
* Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color
Business
* Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...
and
QuikSCAT. To ensure a sustainable financing of operations, NSC started negotiating with other potential customers. However, the project was rejected by the
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
. Instead, a cooperation was made with Kongsberg Aerospace and Defence and
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
, who built the second antenna as a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
.
[Wormdal (2011): 44] In 2001, a German research group applied for permission to establish a ground station in Ny-Ålesund. NSC feared that the competition could undermine the financial capabilities of SvalSat. However, no facility in Ny-Ålesund was built.
![Longyearbyen Plataaberget SvalSat IMG 3059 crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Longyearbyen_Plataaberget_SvalSat_IMG_3059_crop.jpg)
In 2002, ownership and operations of the facility were consolidated and taken over by the newly created Kongsberg Satellite Services.
Lockheed Martin was no longer interested in owning a share of the facility, and sold their shares. NSC and Kongsberg merged their interests in the new company, which also took over TSS.
By 2004, six antennas, between in diameter, had been installed.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
and
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
decided in 2002 to locate its ground station for
, the successor of EOS, to
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland, instead of Svalbard. The reason was lack of
optical fiber cable
A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...
connection to the archipelago. NSC took initiative to build such a cable in July 2002 and gained interest from NASA, NOAA and Telenor. The cable was financed by the satellite operators paying the same fee for the transmission of data as they would have to pay for a satellite connection until the cable was paid for. A 40 million
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
contract was signed with
Tyco International
Tyco International plc was a security systems company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland, with operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, United States (Tyco International (US) Inc.). Tyco International was composed of two major bu ...
for two cables between
Harstad
( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...
on the mainland and Longyearbyen. Construction started in June 2003 and was completed in January 2004.
Starting in 2007, SvalSat was expanded with 12 antennas. Five are used for
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
, while the remaining are used for a large array of customers.
In 2007 and 2008, both Terra and Landsat 7 were
hacked twice. The hackers were able to achieve all steps which would have been necessary to take control over the satellites, but did not actually take control. The operation commanded the satellites via SvalSat, which it was able to hack via the Internet connection.
In his 2011 book ''Satellittkrigen'',
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
journalist Bård Wormdal argues that SvalSat is used for
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
and thus is violating the Svalbard Treaty. Specifically, Wormdal provides evidence that downloaded images of the earth are used for intelligence and military activities. For instance, a Landsat image taken during the
Libyan Civil War
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
was sold by the Italian company e-GEOS to the
Italian Armed Forces
The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...
. Similarly, a
Technology Experiment Satellite
Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) is an Indian remote sensing and photo-reconnaissance satellite.
Launch
TES was launched by the PSLV-C3 rocket from the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) at Sriharikota in the south-east Indian coast a ...
image was sold to the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
during the
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
*Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...
and
Arirang-2 images of North Korean installations have been sold to the United States. All three satellites use SvalSat as one of their ground stations.
According to Governor
Odd Olsen Ingerø
Odd Olsen Ingerø (born 22 September 1950) is a Norwegian civil servant and former Governor of Svalbard.
He was born in Skjeberg. In 2005, he was appointed director of the National Criminal Investigation Service. He was the Governor of Svalbard ...
, even if a military should indirectly use information downloaded from SvalSat, this would not be a breach of the treaty.
A dissertation by Professor Geir Ulfstein concludes that even if a ground station was directly used for downloading military intelligence from
military satellite
A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.
The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. So ...
s, it would still be permitted by the treaty.
On January 7, 2022, an
undersea fiberoptic cable located between the Svalbard Satellite Station and the Norwegian mainland was cut and put out of operation in mysterious incident. The official press release from Space Norway said the extent of the damage was not clear and will require a cable-laying ship to investigate and repair.
Operation
SvalSat is owned and operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), which is again equally owned by the Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace and the Norwegian Space Centre, the latter which is again owned by the
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
. Of KSAT's 200 employees, 40 are stationed in Longyearbyen and work at SvalSat.
KSAT is not tied to a particular operator of satellites and some of the antennas communicate with multiple satellites, thus reducing costs compared to dedicated ground stations. For a typical satellite, data is delivered to the end customer no more than 30 minutes after downloading. As of January 2020 SvalSat receives data from 130 different satellites, and with Tromsø station receives data from at total of 40 000 passes each months.
All ground stations are connected to KSAT's Tromsø Network Operation Center, which is also connected to the TSS and TrollSat. This allows for
redundancy as also TSS and TrollSat can be used to communicate with the satellites. Some customers have direct access to their installations in Longyearbyen without having to route via the Tromsø Network Operation Center. The operation center is responsible for
backup
In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "back up", w ...
,
scheduling
A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible task (project management), tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order ...
and conflict resolution. The facility uses
interoperability
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
and shared ground services, such as a common protocol for communication and similar design of the antennas, to increase flexibility and reduce costs and risk.
KSAT operates two polar ground stations optimized for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, the other being TrollSat at
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
in Antarctica.
These are the only two ground stations able to see a polar-orbiting satellite on every revolution. By using both stations, customers can communicate with a satellite twice per orbit.
All satellites which use SvalSat need a concession from the
Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. Such a concession is only awarded to satellites which would abide by the treaty and explicitly excludes any
military satellite
A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.
The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. So ...
s. However, this does not prevent information from
dual-use
In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refers to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications. satellites being sold to military organizations. The
Governor of Svalbard
The governor of Svalbard ( no, Sysselmesteren på Svalbard) represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen).
The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maint ...
inspects the station twice per year. This includes checking the logs of satellites SvalSat has communicated with, but not the actual information transferred.
All SvalSat employees need a
security clearance
A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is ...
from
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...
.
Facilities
![Post0266 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Post0266_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg)
SvalSat is located on Platåberget, a
mountain plateau above mean sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
just outside Longyearbyen on the island of
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...
in Svalbard, Norway.
The location on the
78th parallel north
The 78th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 78 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, in the Arctic. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Asia, the Arctic Ocean and North America. It is the southernmost integral parallel ...
is favorable to communication with satellites in low polar orbits. The facility consists of close to 100 antenna systems (as of des. 2019), both multi-mission and customer dedicated, making SvalSat the world's largest commercial ground station. They are variously capable of communication in the C, L, S, X and K bands. SvalSat makes use of the
Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was founded in 1982 for governmental and quasi-governmental space agencies to discuss and develop standards for space data and information systems. Currently composed of "eleven member agenc ...
' Space Link Extension protocols, an international standard for ground station to satellite communication. Most antennas use the S band for tracking,
telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...
and commanding and the X band for high-speed data download.
Originally, SvalSat used a combination of a 2
megabits per second
In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols (baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are multi ...
(Mb/s)
leased line
A leased line is a private telecommunications circuit between two or more locations provided according to a commercial contract. It is sometimes also known as a private circuit, and as a data line in the UK. Typically, leased lines are used by ...
, several
Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. W ...
lines and a 55 Mbit/s
satellite Internet access
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites. Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provided to individual users through geostationary satellites that can offer relatively high dat ...
via
Intelsat
Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...
for data transmission off the island. From 2004, the Svalbard Undersea Cable System gives two redundant fiber lines to the mainland, each providing 10 gigabits per second. The fiber connection is operated by
Telenor
Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
. Power is supplied from
Longyearbyen Power Station, In case of a power outage, the facility is equipped with an
uninterruptible power supply
An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system ...
and has a
standby generator
Standby generators
A standby generator is a back-up electrical system that operates automatically.Robert B. Hickey ''Electrical Construction Databook'', McGraw Hill, 2002 , Chapter 14 Within seconds of a utility outage an automatic transfer swi ...
capable of supplying power for two weeks.
The facility consists of a main operations building, a building for the emergency power supply, a transformer station, and a mobile research station, in addition to the
radome
A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and ...
s.
The lot is located above
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani's Mine 3 and is leased to KSAT. The facility is connected to Longyearbyen via a long private road. When the road is closed because of
avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...
s and
land slides, helicopter transport is used. There is a road connecting all the antennas to ease maintenance.
Installations at SvalSat not related to satellite communication include a measuring station for radioactive particles in the air operated by
Norwegian Seismic Array, a telecommunications installation operated by Telenor, a
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
operated by the
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute ( no, Meteorologisk institutt), also known internationally as MET Norway, is Norway's national meteorological institute. It provides weather forecasts for civilian and military uses and conducts research in ...
, with information relayed to
Svalbard Airport, Longyear
Svalbard Airport ( no, Svalbard lufthavn; ) is the main airport serving Svalbard in Norway. It is northwest of Longyearbyen on the west coast, and is the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled public flights. The first airport near Lo ...
, and a weather station operated by SvalSat.
Antennas are placed according to customer specifications, which normally involves a distance of between antennas. This is to ensure that antennas do not shade each other and that their
electromagnetic noise and
radio noise
In radio reception, radio noise is unwanted random radio frequency electrical signals, fluctuating voltages, always present in a radio receiver in addition to the desired radio signal. Radio noise near in frequency to the radio signal being receive ...
do not interfere with each other. Locations are chosen to maximize satellite pass durations, view a calibration station on
Hiorthhamnfjellet, provide visibility of the
Clarke Belt
A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...
for geostationary satellite antennas, or visibility to
Isfjord Radio
Isfjord Radio is a coast radio station, weather station and hotel located at Kapp Linné on the island Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. The station was established in 1933, and has played an important role in the telecommunications between the ...
for terrestrial communications antennas.
Customers
SvalSat is part of NASA's
Near Earth Network
The Near Earth Network (NEN, formerly GN or Ground Network) provides orbital communications support for near-Earth orbiting customer platforms via various ground stations, operated by NASA and other space agencies. It uses a number of different dis ...
. This includes support for the Earth Observing System, which includes satellites such as
Aqua
Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to:
Arts
* Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color
Business
* Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...
,
Aura,
Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite, and
QuikSCAT, as well as the
Small Explorer program
The Explorers program is a NASA exploration program that provides flight opportunities for physics, geophysics, heliophysics, and astrophysics investigations from space. Launched in 1958, Explorer 1 was the first spacecraft of the United Stat ...
which includes
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX or Explorer 83 or SMEX-7) was a NASA orbiting space telescope designed to observe the universe in ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation in the universe. In addition to paving the way ...
, the
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS, also Explorer 74 and SMEX-3) is a NASA submillimetre astronomy satellite, and is the fourth spacecraft in the Small Explorer program (SMEX). It was launched on 6 December 1998, at 00:57:54 UTC, fro ...
,
Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, previously called the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, is a NASA three-telescope space observatory for studying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and monitoring the afterglow in X-ray, and UV/Visible light at the location o ...
,
Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics,
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), also called Explorer 94 and SMEX-12, is a NASA solar observation satellite. The mission was funded through the Small Explorer program to investigate the physical conditions of the solar limb, part ...
, and
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer
Trace may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Trace (Son Volt album), ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995
* Trace (Died Pretty album), ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993
* Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band
* The Trace (album), ''The ...
. SvalSat and Poker Flat are collectively responsible for half of the network's 140 daily passes. Satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using SvalSat includes the
Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership and the
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is managed by the United States Space Force with on-orbit operati ...
. Other American satellites include the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
's
Landsat 5
Landsat 5 was a low Earth orbit satellite launched on March 1, 1984, to collect imagery of the surface of Earth. A continuation of the Landsat Program, Landsat 5 was jointly managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautic ...
and
Landsat 7
Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed and ...
and the private
Iridium Communications
Iridium Communications Inc. (formerly Iridium Satellite LLC) is a publicly traded American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Iridium operates the Iridium satellite constellation, a system of 66 active satellites and 9 in-orbit spares us ...
' satellites.
[Wormdal (2011): 13]
The European Space Agency operates several antennas, which are able to transmit in the S band and receive in the S and X band. ESA uses the facility for tracking, telemetry, telecommand, radiometric measurements and system validation. Satellites include
European Remote-Sensing Satellite 2,
Sentinel 1, 2, 3 and 5P and
Envisat
Envisat ("Environmental Satellite") is a large inactive Earth-observing satellite which is still in orbit and now considered space debris. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satell ...
. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites uses SvalSat as a ground station for its
MetOp
Metop (Meteorological Operational satellite) is a series of three polar-orbiting meteorological satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites ...
satellites, which allows communication with all MetOp orbits. SvalSat serves as one of five uplink stations and as a sensor station for
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
. Five antennas are used for Galileo, including one with a diameter and four at .
The
Norwegian Coastal Administration
Norwegian Coastal Administration ( no, Kystverket) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the water transport infrastructure along the 9,200 km Coast of Norway. It is responsible for coastal navigation infrastructure, pilotage a ...
uses SvalSat to track ships'
Automatic Identification System in Norwegian waters via
AISSat-1. The
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
uses SvalSat for its
Hinode mission.
[Sakurai (2008): 22] Other customers include
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates
MDA Ltd. is a Canadian space technology company headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, that provides geointelligence, robotics & space operations, and satellite systems.
History
MDA (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) was founde ...
's
Radarsat-1
RADARSAT-1 was Canada's first commercial Earth observation satellite. It utilized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to obtain images of the Earth's surface to manage natural resources and monitor global climate change. As of March 2013, the satelli ...
and
Radarsat-2, the Taiwanese
National Space Organization
The National Space Organization (NSPO or NSO) is the national civilian space agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan), part of the National Applied Research Laboratories under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan), ...
's
Formosat-2, the
Korea Aerospace Research Institute
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indig ...
of South Korea's
Arirang-2, the
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
's
Technology Experiment Satellite
Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) is an Indian remote sensing and photo-reconnaissance satellite.
Launch
TES was launched by the PSLV-C3 rocket from the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) at Sriharikota in the south-east Indian coast a ...
,
Cartosat-1
Cartosat-1 (formerly IRS-P5) is a stereoscopic Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit, and the first one of the Cartosat series of satellites. The eleventh satellite of ISRO in Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) series. The sa ...
and
Cartosat-2
Cartosat-2 is an Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit and the second of the Cartosat series of satellites. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Weighing around 68 ...
, the German
RapidEye
RapidEye AG was a German geospatial information provider focused on assisting in management decision-making through services based on their own Earth-observation imagery. The company operated a five-satellite constellation producing 5-meter res ...
constellation, the
Italian Space Agency
The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entit ...
's
COSMO-SkyMed
COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) is an Earth-observation satellite space-based radar system funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and Ministry of Defence and conducted by the It ...
and the
German Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...
's
TerraSAR-X.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Svalbard
Earth stations in Norway
Longyearbyen
Science and technology in Svalbard
1997 establishments in Norway
Kongsberg Gruppen
Norwegian Space Centre
NASA radio communications and spacecraft tracking facilities
European Space Agency
Buildings and structures in Svalbard