Kongsberg Awarded Contract for Mobile Communication Satellite

Norway’s Kongsberg has developed world-class signal processing equipment that provides improved mobile coverage in areas with insufficient ground network.

The equipment is to be integrated in Airbus Defence and Space’s new mobile communication satellite, Thuraya 4-NGS. The agreement includes manufacturing and test of electronics from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, division Space & Surveillance in Horten, Norway.

The satellite will deliver higher capabilities and flexibility while increasing capacity and coverage across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. The new generation of modular digital processors from Airbus Defence and Space offers full flexibility for more than 3200 channels and dynamic allocation over a large number of spot beams. 

Kongsberg will deliver integrated L-band pre- and post-processors. These enable the satellites to meet the communication needs at all times, both when new requirements appear and/or when the local capacity is too poor. The L-band processors are «SAW»-based (Surface Acoustic Wave filters) and the development is supported by European Space Agency and the Norwegian Space Agency.

Kongsberg has a strong design and manufacturing capability for satellite onboard electronics, per date with hardware on more than 200 satellites. The company has a global footprint with all major primes.

“We are proud to be a trusted partner to Airbus Defence and Space. They have been an important customer for many years, and this contract secures our leading position within the mobile GEO-satellite market. It gives us a solid foundation for further growth and development”, says Director of Marketing in Space and Surveillance at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Ellen Dahler Tuset. –shp/mgm