Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has announced an agreement with Arctic Space Technologies, a company that offers highly-reliable, secure satellite data handling services, to establish and host Viasat’s first, high-latitude Real-Time Earth (RTE) facility in Öjebyn, Sweden.
By opening a new RTE facility in Sweden, Viasat can provide polar coverage with integrated high-speed data capabilities as part of its advanced global RTE network. Viasat’s first Swedish RTE ground station is planned to be operational by April 2022.
Viasat RTE provides Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) capabilities in support of environmental, insurance, shipping, energy and government operations. It is a fully-managed, cost-effective ground network that enables operators with GEO, MEO and LEO) satellites using the S-, X- and Ka-bands, the ability to meet current and future data requirements.
The new RTE facility in Sweden is expected to host four, Viasat, full-motion, 7.3-meter S-/X-/Ka-band antennas and associated infrastructure. This high-latitude RTE site is geographically advantageous for Viasat customers with satellites flying in sun synchronous orbits, as customer satellites will be able to connect to Viasat’s RTE ground station up to nine times per day—providing tremendous opportunities to downlink and disseminate mission-critical data.
The new site is also Viasat’s first RTE site co-located at a data center allowing for enhanced edge compute capabilities for real-time processing, analysis and optimization. Arctic Space Technologies’ data center solutions, operated by EcoDataCenter, provide a fast connection with low latency and a net-zero carbon footprint, helping Viasat’s customers perform faster Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) operations and payload downlink services.
“Our relationship with Arctic Space Technologies plays an integral role in the expansion of our global RTE footprint and our ability to provide increased coverage in the critical polar geography,” said John Williams, vice president, Real-Time Earth at Viasat. “The new Swedish site will provide our RTE commercial and government customers with virtual access to their own 7.3m S/X/Ka-band antenna systems—at an ideal polar latitude—with secure backhaul communications and software defined radios configured specifically for every satellite pass.”
Sandra Nilsson, company co-founder and chief operating officer of Arctic Space Technologies, said, “We’re proud to partner with Viasat on bringing their Real-Time Earth solutions to Sweden. Arctic Space Technologies is at the forefront of closing the gap between data centers and ground stations, enabling edge-based satellite communications with our reliable, scalable and sustainable platform. Our relationship further showcases our capabilities to help GSaaS innovators like Viasat expand their advanced networks globally.”
The new Sweden site is Viasat’s 6th RTE facility globally and its second in Europe. Currently, Viasat’s RTE network operates on five continents, with sites in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa.
