Northrop Grumman Australia Teams with Inmarsat for Australia’s Future Sovereign Satellite Capability

Northrop Grumman Australia will partner with UK-based Inmarsat, which was recently taken over by US giant Viasat, to develop an agile, resilient and sovereign satellite communications capability to bid for JP9102, the Australian Defence Satellite Communication System project.

Under JP9102, the two companies will deliver an Integrated Control Segment that provides the Commonwealth with flexibility across commercial and military SATCOM networks. The companies have already collaborated to deliver satellite communications capabilities through the HEOSat program, a collaborative program between the Government of Norway, the United States Air Force and Inmarsat, to deliver broadband services to the Arctic region.

“As an established satellite communications provider to the ADF, we’re proud to partner with Inmarsat and build on our shared history of developing global satellite communications networks,” said Christine Zeitz, general manager, Northrop Grumman Asia Pacific.

“We will build on this foundation and our history of collaboration with Inmarsat to deliver a complex and agile network of satellite communications systems, combating emerging threats and supporting the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in the future battlespace,” said Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, tactical space systems, Northrop Grumman.

“Together, we provide the right balance of program delivery track record, access to advanced satellite system technology, protection against evolving threats, and sovereign assurance through long-term delivery for Australia, from Australia,” said Rajeev Suri, chief executive officer of Inmarsat.