Norwegian Space Centre

Norwegian space company

Norwegian government agency

rocket launchsite in Svalbard

satellite ground station located on Platåberget near Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway

AISSat-1 is a satellite used to receive Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals. Launched on 12 June 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre as a secondary payload, AISSat-1 is in a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. Initially a development project, the satellite has since passed into ordinary operations. Via downlinks at Svalbard Satellite Station and at Vardø Vessel Traffic Service Centre it tracks vessels in the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea for the Norwegian Coastal Administration, the Norwegian Coast Guard, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries and other public agencies.