KONGSBERG in outer space

The universe. Infinite enigmas. The first theories of the machinations of the universe were based on legends and superstition. Today, space research programmes help us obtain important new information about outer space and the Earth's environment.

Satellites orbiting 36 000 kilometres out in outer space bring TV programmes right into our homes, and images from weather satellites are almost always instrumental in weather forecasts these days. Satellites also provide crucial information for studying the global environment and monitoring environmental changes.

KONGSBERG is currently Norway's largest supplier to ESA, the European Space Agency. We have provided equipment for numerous space programmes, as well as for many satellites and the booster rockets that carry satellites into outer space.

Here you can find an overview of KONGSBERG's space activities, including the missions of the various satellites and space probes, and the equipment KONGSBERG has supplied to them.

• Earth observation satellites (Aeolus, ENVISAT, GOCE og METOP)
• Scientific space probes (BepiColombo, Cassini-Huygens, Cluster, Darwin, Double Star, Integral, Mars Express, Planck, Rosetta, Soho og Venus Express)
• Navigation satellites (Galileo)
• Booster rockets (Ariane 5 DAAV/DAAR, OptoPyro og Vinci)

This sketch shows which space programmes, satellites and space probes Kongsberg has supplied equipment to. Cllick on the picture to see a bigger sketch.



Even just thinking about the size of the universe can give anyone goose pimples. A unit of measurement for comparing distances in outer space is the 'AU'. That stands for 'astronomical unit'. One astronomical unit is the mean distance between the centres of the Earth and the sun. That corresponds to roughly 149 598 000 000 metres (149 billion 598 million metres or 93 million miles). Since the planets move at different speeds in their orbits around the sun, the distance between them varies a very great deal with during their elliptical orbital cycles.