The SES GS solution uses C-band technology, which is highly resilient to changes in weather and delivers a dedicated reachback beam using single hop connectivity directly to the user site. The GS solution also provides redundancy including antennas, uplink and downlink telemetry, ground infrastructure and restoration capabilities.
“We are proud to provide satellite communications support for this critical mission,” said Brigadier General Pete Hoene - USAF (retired), president and CEO of SES Government Solutions.
“Thule Air Base is the Department of Defense’s northernmost installation, and this program continues to serve as a great example of the importance of our capability to deliver the critical intelligence data to military decision makers.”
SES GS has been the sole provider of commercial satellite communications to Thule Air Base for over 20 years.
The company has strong experience in overcoming the challenging conditions of operating in Arctic locations, including the extreme cold-weather environment, unpredictable weather patterns, near-horizon location, and logistical challenges.
Specifically, this contract follows SES GS' previous track record of delivering reliable services in harsh climate conditions in the Arctic, while ensuring the mitigation of physical antenna degradation.
As a provider of both geostationary and non-geostationary, SES combines its operational experience to deliver multi-band, multi-orbit communications to customers’ remote locations like Thule, where resilience and reliability are critical.
In related news, earlier this month Luxembourg announced plans to build a satellite-based quantum key distribution network in association with its local satellite company, SES.
The project will see the government work with pan-European bodies to build the Quantum Communications Infrastructure project (LuxQCI), which it hopes will improve cyber security.
