The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has extended the contract to use British operator Inmarsat’s satellites till 2027. The contract is estimated to be of worth AUD221 million ($291 million). The extension has been made to increase knowledge exchange, academic research opportunities, access to trade and investment across their Space sectors.
According to Spacenews.com, Inmarsat said that the arrangement has evolved to include the company’s full suite of managed services, which include access to its Operational Monitoring and Control System (OMCS), enabling ADF to virtually track and assign bandwidth across the fleet in real-time.
Brigadier Gregory Novak, commander of the ADF’s Defence Strategic Communications Branch, said: “Inmarsat has supported ADF satellite communications requirements at home and overseas for over 30 years. This partnership has increased our capability to support wide-ranging ADF operations and provide greatly improved quality of life services for our deployed people.”
Initially signed in 2017, the 10-year contract is now worth a total AUD331 million.
Amanda Solloway, UK Science Minister, defined this partnership as another step toward the country’s aim to become “a globally-competitive Space power.”
The Space industry of the UK and Australia is one of the fastest growing sectors and is expected to create 30,000 new jobs in the UK and 20,000 new jobs in Australia by 2030.
