Arctic broadband satellites launched for reliable military connectivity

A two-satellite broadband constellation, built by Northrop Grumman and owned by Space Norway, successfully launched on August 11, 2024. The constellation was launched to fulfil the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) and provide secure and reliable communications in the critical Arctic region for both commercial and military communications.

The satellites include multiple payloads, including military payloads for the US and Norwegian Armed Forces. Both the launch itself and its payloads show an increased interest in the Arctic region for military purposes.

China and Russia have both recently expressed military interest, if not military intent, in the Arctic region, which has forced a relatively rapid command-level policy shift on behalf of the US towards the area.

Following a Department of Defense Arctic strategy paper released in late July 2024, US deputy secretary of defence Kathleen Hicks said: “It is imperative that the joint force is equipped and trained with what they need to operate in the Arctic."

She added that the Arctic region was “strategically vital to US national security” as a route for US military forces to reach “about any theatre in the Northern Hemisphere.”

The implication of the recent Chinese and Russian presence in the area is clear: being able to impede such a passageway would actively hinder US military efforts to reach theatres of conflict, as well as allowing Chinese or Russian forces to reach those theatres easily.

These realisations have made the importance of communication and connectivity in the Arctic has been radically underlined. The launch of the ASBM satellites should help Western forces in the region gain a strategic advantage.

The launches also chime with the US Space Force revealing plans for an US$8 billion Evolved Strategic (ESS) satellite communications (SATCOM) programme to launch swarms of Low Earth Orbit satellites over the next couple of years, to replace existing satellites that are especially vulnerable to Russian and Chinese anti-satellite missile systems.