On Wednesday, listed global satellite communications giant Viasat–which earlier this week provided a major lift to the U.K. space industry by acquiring Inmarsat–announced the opening of its first real-time earth (RTE) satellite ground station in Africa. Located in Accra, Ghana, the RTE station was developed in partnership with the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI), under the auspices of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, which handles all space, science, technology and associated activities for the country. The new Ghanaian station brings Viasat’s network of RTE locations to five continents.
Viasat’s RTE offering is a Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) model, serving clients in the environmental, insurance, shipping, energy and government sectors. It is a fully-managed affordable ground network that supports next-generation and legacy geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites using the S-, X-, and Ka-bands, enabling operators to meet current and future data requirements.
The new station is located at the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory, Kuntunse. It includes a Viasat full-motion 7.3M S/X/Ka-band antenna and associated infrastructure. The antenna is currently ready to provide global satellite operators the ability to perform Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) capabilities as well as rapidly download, stream and/or disseminate valuable satellite-based data in a timely and secure manner.
“The new RTE ground station, located in Ghana, is part of Viasat’s strategic growth plan for a global RTE ground service network, with prior operations already located in North America, South America, Australia and Europe,” said John Williams, vice president, Real-Time Earth at Viasat. “By working in partnership with GSSTI, we have opened a state-of-the-art RTE facility, bringing jobs and economic growth to the region, while further differentiating Viasat’s service through our ability to provide satellite operators access to world-class antenna systems for high-speed RTE connectivity of payload data across a secure network.”
“The development of Viasat’s new antenna site has been an extremely positive opportunity for the people and economy of Ghana,” said Eric Aggrey, research scientist and project manager of Ghana Radio Astronomy Project, GSSTI. “We have positively grown our presence in the global space and technology sector and look forward to expanding our relationship with Viasat to bring additional new space opportunities, technologies and skillsets to Africa.”
In addition to news of its Inmarsat deal this week, Viasat also announced a partnership with Peruvian business holding company Intercorp to provide satellite-enabled community internet to communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. In a statement announcing the partnership earlier this week, the two companies said they have been working together to assess geographic markets and to develop suitable infrastructure, ecosystems, business models and applications to bring high-quality connectivity to the hardest-to-reach communities.
