A rendering of two satellites for Space Norway. Photo: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman was awarded a lucrative multi-spacecraft contract by Space Norway to build and deliver its Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) system. Northrop Grumman will design, manufacture, and integrate two satellites in addition to providing critical ground infrastructure for the Norwegian government-owned company.

The ASBM satellites will carry multiple hosted payloads including an X-Band payload for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense and a Ka-Band payload for Inmarsat. Northrop Grumman announced last year that it will also provide two Extremely High Frequency eXtended Data Rate (EHF XDR) payloads for the Enhanced Polar System-Recapitalization (EPS-R) to the U.S. Air Force for integration on the spacecraft. The systems are designed to improve secure and continuous communications in the North Polar Region.

“This contract award marks our first mission with Space Norway and we appreciate the confidence they have in our capabilities to deliver high quality communication satellites,” said Frank DeMauro, sector vice president and general manager, space systems, Northrop Grumman. “By using our flight proven GeoStar platform coupled with our end-to-end payload integration capabilities, we are eager to demonstrate our ability to provide innovative solutions that regularly exceed our customer’s mission needs.”

Last week, Northrop Grumman was awarded an $82 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to facilitate military satellite communications in the Earth’s north polar region through its EPS-R Control and Planning Segment (CAPS) program. Northrop Grumman is the provider for all three major components of the EPS-R CAPS program demonstrating the company’s industry-leading end-to-end capabilities.