Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) announced today that it has signed a new satellite support contract with a total value of $220 million with the European Space Agency for operational support related to the Sentinel satellites in the Copernicus program.
KSAT has signed an extension to the existing contract for ground station support for the sentinel satellites in the European Copernicus program. KSAT is the supplier of polar ground station support for this European climate and environmental monitoring programme. KSAT is responsible for data collection and delivery of payload data from all the six Sentinel satellites.
The first satellite, Sentinel-1a is a radar satellite with special importance for Norway since it is a prime source of data used in maritime surveillance in the northern areas. Data from this satellite is operationally used in services related to oil-spill monitoring, as well as ice- and ship detection. It constitutes a very efficient tool for Norway’s situational awareness in the northern most areas.