DMCii Increases Downlink Capacity with Svalbard Ground Station Facilities

by | Apr 24, 2013

Guildford, United Kingdom, April 16, 2013”DMC International Imaging (DMCii) has signed an agreement with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) that will increase the volume of imagery acquired and the speed in which it can be delivered. The new facilities in Svalbard have allowed DMCii to receive 30% more data from day one, with the scope for significant further expansion in the future.

Under this agreement, KSAT will deliver a complete ground station service to DMCii, including the provision of hardware, and delivery of data to DMCii's headquarters in the UK. The Svalbard ground station is uniquely placed near the North Pole to provide maximum downlink opportunities from polar-orbiting satellites, such as those operated by DMCii. Whilst an antenna near the equator might get 2 or 3 passes of a satellite over it in a day, antennas at Svalbard get 14 passes a day so satellite data can be downlinked every 90 minutes. A high speed data link between Svalbard and DMCii headquarters will speed up the delivery time of satellite imagery.

Dave Hodgson, Managing Director of DMCii, said: Timeliness of information is of vital importance to our customers and is a key differentiator of our imagery services. The improved downlink has significantly upgraded data delivery times and has already made 30% more imagery available, further improving capability for change detection applications. This will become more important as the capacity of our satellites to acquire data expands in the near future.

Rolf Skatteboe, President of KSAT, said: Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) is pleased with the opportunity to work together with DMCii and deliver an efficient and flexible ground segment for DMC series of satellites; reducing the latency for DMCii customers from the largest ground station in the world for polar orbiting satellites.

This is a strong Anglo-Norwegian partnership that we expect to continue with future missions such as the UK's forthcoming NovaSAR mission. The combination of timely deliveries of Earth Observation data and operational marine monitoring services is important for KSAT marine situational awareness services.”

About DMC International Imaging Ltd

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK-based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). DMCii's data is primarily used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping, which benefit from reliable high temporal resolution optical imagery.

In partnership with the UK Space Agency and the other DMC member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter ˜Space and Major Disasters' to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the DMC with the support of the UK Space Agency and in conjunction with the other DMC Consortium member nations listed above.

DMC International Imaging Ltd is not affiliated in any way with Intergraph Corp., Z/I Imaging Corp., or their registered trademark DMC.

About Kongsberg Satellite Services AS

Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) is a commercial Norwegian enterprise, uniquely positioned to provide ground station and earth observation services for Low Earth and polar orbiting satellites. Locations in Tromsø at 69°N, Svalbard at 78°N and Antarctic TrollSat Station at 72°S furthermore owned and operated stations in Hartebeesthoek, Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius, Grimstad and Jan Mayen. KSAT operates over 60 antennas optimally positioned and support more than 75 satellites. The Tromsø Network Operations Centre is staffed 24/7-365 days, and remotely operating facilities around the world as one single interconnected network.

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