Kapooka satellite ground station under construction

Construction has begun on the Defence Satellite Ground Station at Kapooka.

The first sod has been turned by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack on the $24 million project.

McCormack said the Wideband Satellite Capability project involved the acquisition and sustainment of a new Satellite Ground Station in the East (SGS-E) of Australia and the implementation of a Wideband SATCOM Network Management System (NMS).

“I’m pleased to be at Kapooka — the Home of the Soldier — today with representatives from the project’s contractors, Northrop Grumman Australia and Viasat, for this groundbreaking activity which will provide flexibility to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) wideband beyond line-of-sight communications,” he said.

“The construction will be a boon for the Wagga Wagga region’s economy as this $24 million investment means goods and services can be sourced from local businesses throughout the construction phase and ongoing maintenance jobs.

“This is a wonderful result for the Riverina and Kapooka Army Base to remain a vital cog in Australia’s Defence Force network into the future.”

Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne said the new ground station would provide site and frequency redundancy to the Wideband Global Satellites visible from mainland Australia.

“Today’s ceremony represents the beginning of construction work which is critical to the broader $220 million program to significantly enhance the communications capability of the ADF while providing local jobs during the construction phase,” Pyne said.

“Once completed in 2021, the ground station will provide the satellite communications gateway on the east coast of Australia and, in conjunction with the Wideband SATCOM NMS, will deliver a holistic satellite communications network management and situational awareness capability to the ADF.

“This will ensure the ADF has an end-to-end communications service consistent with the operational need for network-enabled operations.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Andrey Armyagov

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and bimonthly magazine.