SvalSat: space technology in the Arctic

SvalSat is short for Svalbard satellittstasjon = Svalbard satellite base. This is the name for a large collection of huge antennas on Platåberget, a table-shaped mountain next to Longyearbyen. What you can see from a distance is a cluster of huge spheres, which are weather protection for the actual dish-shaped antennas inside. SvalSat was founded in 1997 and it is run by Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (short: KSAT).

SvalSat: satellite technology in the Arctic

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Such antennas are needed close to the poles to establish contact to satellites in polar orbits. Data are sent from SvalSat to the satellites to control them and data are sent from the satellites to SvalSat: mainly user data which are forward to customers anywhere in the world, including NASA and ESA but also companies like Iridium and projects such as Galileo. Navigation and communication, scientific data, weather … the whole range of jobs done by satellite these days. It is not revealed if this includes military activities. Use of permanent facilities in Svalbard for military services is excluded by the Spitsbergen Treaty, so this would at least be controversial.

SvalSat: satellite antennas on Platåberg close to Longyearbyen. The two-way data traffic servies satellite control and data retreaval.

2004: cable connection to the mainland

In order to manage the huge data volume which needs to be processed in real time, a twin glass fibre cable was laid on the sea floor from Longyearbyen to Harstad (Vesterålen, mainland Norway) in 2004. A redundant twin cable structure was chosen because of the sensitivity of the data traffic, which also serves the settlements of Spitsbergen since then. A loss of data connection would have drastic consequences locally, but might also have global implications. In January 2022, one of the two cables was damaged, reminding everybody of the sensitive character of this type of infrastructure.

Entrance to SvalSat’s main building. Customers iunclude NASA, ESA, Iridium and other organisations of global importance.

Connecting Spitsbergen: from sailing ships to deep sea cables

The cable connection makes earlier means of communication obsolete: initially, ships were needed to transport messages between Spitsbergen and the rest of the world. In 1911, the situation was greatly improved when the wireless telegraph station on Finneset south of Barentsburg (which didn’t exist back then) was built. But for many years, messages had to be carried by boat or dog sledge between Finneset and the other settlements. Later, this was done by radio-delay systems installed on mountains between the settlements and the main radio station (Isfjord Radio at Kapp Linné on the west coast for many years during the 20th century).

SvalSat in 2009, when it was still much smaller than today.

SvalSat: growth, jobs and sensitive technology

But back to Platåberg. SvalSat has grown considerably over the years. By now (2022), the number of antennas amounts to something close to 100, and KSAT has around 40 local employees. There is a road from SvalSat to Longyearbyen (connecting to the road just east of the airport), but it is closed for public traffic.

The SvalSat area itself is actually not close to non-motorised public traffic. If you happen to hike in that area, then you may pass through. It is also allowed to take photographs outside, but it is not necessarily popular and if you spend too much time taking pictures then you may well be approached by someone for a little chat. The interior is closed to the public, and if you happen to get access, then it will mostly not be allowed to take pictures.