A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two Northrop Grumman-manufactured satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Aug. 11 for Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission.
The ASBM-1 and ASBM-2 spacecraft, built on Northrop’s GEOStar-3 bus platform, were deployed to a highly elliptical orbit to deliver commercial broadband and protected military satellite communications to aircraft, ships and troops in the northern polar region.
The satellites carry several payloads from multiple entities, including the U.S. Space Systems Command’s Enhanced Polar System-Recapitalization designed for secure military communications, a Ka band payload for Viasat and a Norwegian Radiation Monitor, or NORM.
NORM will provide the European Commission with space radiation data to support the development and ensure the reliability of Galileo, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, Copernicus, Space Surveillance and Tracking, and IRIS2, among other EU Space Programme components that rely on space systems sensitive to space radiation.
According to Space Norway, the information will help analyze potential program service disruptions.
Following testing and verification, the ASBM satellites are expected to reach their intended orbit in two weeks and provide services to Arctic users by the New Year.