KSAT Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the world leading ground station as a service provider, Kongsberg Satellite Services - KSAT, will conduct a study to evaluate the future of satellite ground networks for NOAAs demanding mission applications. During this study, KSAT will analyze how recent developments in phased array antennas, API’s, ground network virtualization, and data processing are enabling a network-centric approach to ground stations.
A network-centric approach emphasizes connectivity and interoperability among multiple ground stations to enable timely data delivery, resilient information flow, and cost optimization. What would it take for Ground Station services to resemble terrestrial cellular networks more closely? How do we leverage common interfaces to make ground networks more resilient and affordable? KSAT takes the lead in a NOAA study to answer these questions and others.
Contributing to the success of Future Weather Constellations
By the early 2030’s, NOAA will be set to launch dozens of satellites to augment the current low Earth orbit weather constellation. The number of satellites and amount of daily data volume will be unprecedented for NOAA. Through this study, KSAT will apply world leading expertise with analysis of several technologies and methodologies to optimize the ground network for constellations at scale, while ensuring greater resiliency and scalability than before. The KSAT study will help NOAA explore possible future states for NOAA’s ground system, but NOAA currently has no planned request for proposals to support the implementation past the studies.
– KSAT has been selected to serve NOAA’s essential missions for decades. Through this study we are bringing together a long experience providing secure and robust communication solutions for missions such as NOAAs JPSS program, with KSAT’s unique expertise in supporting Earth observation satellite constellations. The outcome will be a powerful combination to help establish solutions to enable future space and ground communication networks, says Dan Adams, General Manager of KSAT Inc.
Dan Adams, General Manager of KSAT Inc.
Maintaining Resiliency at Scale
The general trend towards large constellations of satellites is driving the need for innovation in the ground segment. With more than 380+ antennas globally, KSAT is well positioned to develop a network that is capable of reorganizing autonomously, allowing for greater resiliency than before to enable time-critical weather data is available in near-real-time.
KSAT is currently a core provider of data acquisition and TT&C services for NOAA’s JPSS Program.
– We look forward to investigating how the core technologies KSAT has invested in over the past several years is now driving innovation at the network level, Adams says.
