Inmarsat Government delivers highly reliable communications support for successful expedition to Antarctica

10 April 2020: Inmarsat Government, a leading provider of secure, global, mission-critical telecommunications to the U. S. Government, today announced that it has successfully provided mobile communications support to the South Orkney Expedition. This multidisciplinary expedition, supported by the research vessel RV Braveheart, took place on Signy Island from February 21 to March 6, 2020. The South Orkney Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, about 375 miles north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula.

This expedition was undertaken by the Perseverance DX Group, a nonprofit expedition organization that conducted record-setting, multi-mode high frequency (HF) communications using amateur radio frequencies, ranging from just above the Amplitude Modulated (AM) broadcast band to the edge of the Very high frequency (VHF) band, under widely varying space weather (ionospheric and solar flux) conditions. The team also collected marine sediment samples for scientific research.

Additionally, middle and high school science teachers were provided information for use in their classrooms on a number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) topics. The expedition team also tested satellite communications and new amateur radio technologies in this remote region of the world.

During the expedition, Inmarsat Government provided its award-winning, Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite communication services that enabled expedition members to partner with schools to supplement STEM classroom education of the Antarctic. Furthermore, the expedition relied on Inmarsat’s highly dependable Global Satellite Phone Service (GSPS) via the Inmarsat-4 constellation to stay connected in this remote region.

“These internet activities would not have been possible without Inmarsat services. We appreciate Inmarsat Government’s cooperation, technical assistance and the equipment that included BGAN and satellite phone services,” said Dr David Lloyd, South Orkney Expedition leader. “Conducting expeditions to remote parts of the world to do research and support student STEM education requires having communications equipment that can reliably provide voice and broadband data communications under extreme conditions.”

“Inmarsat Government is proud to be the communications partner for the Perseverance DX Group in their quest to travel to remote places around the globe such as South Orkney Islands,” said Tom Costello, Chief Commercial Officer, Inmarsat Government. “It has been a privilege to support this expedition through our dependable ‘on-the-move’ communications and do our part in further enhancing scientific exploration and education.”