Ymir Spacecraft

Carry a VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) payload from Saab for two-way communication between satellite and ground.

Launch a test satellite which will make way for a future constellation to provide a next generation VDES service.

Carry a VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) payload from Saab for two-way communication between satellite and ground. ORBCOMM will integrate the data in its distribution centre for maritime communications.

The satellite is part of the collaborative AOS project, a project that is developing the next generation of space based VDES, bringing together AAC Clyde Space, Orbcomm and Saab.

The parties, collaborating under a new brand named AOS, aim both for services directed to end customers as well as for safety of navigation services. The goal of the consortium is to create a global maritime communication network enabling ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication everywhere on the globe.

The use of VDES provides much needed improvements to current AIS-based Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). With up to 32 times more bandwidth than AIS, VDES will enable a broader array of applications in maritime surveillance, encrypted communications, fishery, logistics, search and rescue and marine integrated applications. By adding space-based capability to VDES, the use of the system is extended from the shoreline to anywhere in the ocean.

• ANTENNA - Oxford Space Systems