ORBIT Strengthens Position in Earth Observation Market - Wins Contract from Leading US Aerospace Engineering Firm

September 30th, 2014

ORBIT Communication Systems, has won a contract to upgrade a ground station for a leading US aerospace engineering system integrator. The value of the contract is estimated at USD 725K.

The project includes an upgrade of a governmentanl agency legacy analog ground station to state-of-the-art digital technology with a dual-band antenna assembly. Located in Alaska, the ground station is used to command and track LEO satellites involved in earth observation and remote sensing activities. After weighing various alternatives, including an upgrade to the legacy vendor’s own digital tracking solution, the integrator chose ORBIT’s innovative and cost-effective upgrade solution package.

This solution is based on ORBIT’s specially designed Pedestal Interface Unit (PIU), which enables the integrator to upgrade the analog ground station to digital technology without having to replace the legacy pedestal. This significantly reduces the downtime and cost of the overall upgrade project.
According to Ofer Greenberger, ORBIT CEO: "Earth observation operators are looking to take advantage of new technologies, while preserving their legacy investments. Our R&D team has made major efforts to address this need, by designing an easy-to-implement solution that is able to work with most leading analog equipment on the market. This allows customers to enjoy the benefits of the digital positioning and tracking technology in a more cost effective way than switching to a new system.”

Moreover, ORBIT’s solution also allows for the replacement of the existing S-band feed with ORBIT’s S&X dual-band auto-tracking equipment. This enables the operator to achieve the functionality of two antennas with a single, high-accuracy antenna using dual feeds.

As the system is to be deployed in Alaska, ORBIT’s proven ground station performance in extreme environmental conditions, such as heavy winds and cold temperatures as low as -40ºC (-40ºF), was also a key factor in the selection process.