Saab Ericsson Space receives order for ten satellite antennas

Saab Ericsson Space in Gothenburg, Sweden, has received an order
for ten X-band helix antennas for Surrey Satellite Technology??s
RapidEye satellites.

 

Customers that have
been dealing with us once, have a tendency of coming back. Our wide
coverage antennas have a very strong heritage background and we are
able to deliver high-performance products on short notice, says Jan
Zackrisson, responsible for wide coverage antenna products at Saab
Ericsson Space. During spring we made a quick delivery of a single
antenna and now we will manufacture ten more of the same type. We hope
that this is the start of a long-standing relation, says Mr Zackrisson.

 

RapidEye is a commercial earth observation
satellite system built under leadership of MacDonald Dettwiler of
Canada. The system will include five 175 kg satellites built by Surrey
Satellite Technology Ltd.(SSTL). The satellites will carry a
high-resolution optical instrument developed by Jena-Optronik. The
instrument will be capable of seeing features on ground larger than 6.5
meters from a 620 km orbit. The satellites will be launched early 2007
by the DNEPR rocket from Kazakhstan.

 

Saab Ericsson Space has 25 years of experience from building
wide-coverage antennas. To date more than 300 antennas of this type
have been delivered. The very first delivery of a helix antenna was for
ESA¬?s scientific satellite EXOSAT. The same basic antenna type is used
for both Telemetry and Telecommand of commercial telecommunication
satellites and for data downlinks for scientific and earth observation
satellites.
The antenna now contracted is of a type that gives equal strength
downlink signal over the entire visible surface of earth. The antenna
will be used for sending image data down to ground stations from the
RapidEye satellites.

 

Saab Ericsson Space is an international,
independent supplier of space equipment. The company??s main products
are computers, microwave electronics and antennas for spacecraft and
adapters and separation systems for launchers. The company has its
headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, a division located in LinkÀÜping,
Sweden, and subsidiaries in Austria (Austrian Aerospace) and the USA
(Saab Ericsson Space Inc). Saab Ericsson Space has approximately 525
employees. The company is jointly owned by Saab and Ericsson.

 

(Credits Saab Ericsson Space)