[10-05-07 – Satellite Today] SeaMobile Enterprises has been awarded two contracts to provide global VSAT services to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the company announced Oct. 3.

SeaMobile will provide voice and data access to up to 21 ships in the NOAA fleet. The network enables broadband connectivity between the ships and NOAA headquarters so that environmental scientists can interact in real-time with ships at sea. NOAA will be able to conduct voice calls, large data transfers and video conferencing simultaneously while operating in the northern Alaska, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions.

The company also won a contract to integrate, install, operate and provide maintenance for a 3.7-meter VSAT terminal system for a new NOAA ship, Okeano Explorer. The ship is the first U.S. government ship dedicated to exploring unknown parts of the ocean. The VSAT terminal will be able to transmit HDTV and high-speed data from any ocean region in the world.