The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and BridgeSat, Inc., have agreed to 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 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 SATCOM solutions.
 
Leif Österbo, SSC’s President of Satellite Management Services, reported that his company is pleased to enter this partnership with BridgeSat, with scope for mutual beneficial commercial cooperation going forward given the firms' 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 as they are developing a commercial optical communications systems that fits well with SSC's mission.