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Norwegian Space Centre Undersea Fiber Optic Telecommunications System

The Situation: NASA/NOAA and the US Air Force required high quality data from polar orbiting satellites that transmitted the data to a receiving station in Norway near the North Pole. The data was available from the satellites, but getting it out of the North Pole on a reliable and cost effective basis was not possible. The technical solution was obvious to all: build a 1300km fiber optic line from the North Pole to mainland Norway to link with existing cable systems.

The Problem: There were no capital appropriations available to the U.S. Government agencies.

The Solution: Our client, the Norwegian Space Agency, entered into a 25-year telecommunications services agreement with the three U.S. Government agencies. Hannon Armstrong invested the $40 million required to fund the construction of the cable for the Norwegian Space Centre, allowing the U.S. Government to receive the benefit of the system immediately while paying for those services over time. See coverage in Defense News

Benefit to the U.S. Government: This transaction saved the U.S. Government over $140 million over the life of the contract compared to the solution offered by the previous service provider. This can serve as a model for the U.S. government, other sovereign governments and defense contractors to consider when they need to fund large capital projects without using scarce appropriated dollars.

View related PowerPoint presentation.