[SatNews] This move will strengthen the Company's position within surveillance and international space...

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS, a wholly-owned company in the Kongsberg Group (KONGSBERG), has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Horten-based company Norspace AS. It is expected that the transaction will be completed by the end of October. Norspace AS was established in 2003 and is an extension of the former AME Space and Alcatel Space Norway. Norspace AS currently has 95 employees and is world-leading in its field of supplying high-tech components and equipment to the international space industry. The company participates in a number of international space programs, and the company's equipment is currently on board more than 140 satellites for customers all over the world.

KONGSBERG has for several years increased its activities in space and surveillance. Through the subsidiaries Kongsberg Satellite Services and Kongsberg Spacetec, the company is leading in services related to ground stations and satellite data. KONGSBERG currently operates a worldwide network of ground stations, including Svalbard and the Antarctic, and supplies high-tech solutions to NASA and ESA, among others. The acquisition of Norspace AS consolidates space operations in Norway and contributes toward strengthening KONGSBERG's commercial position within international space and surveillance. The utility aspect of the exploitation of space is becoming more and more prominent, and Norway has very good prospects of being internationally competitive. The Horten-Kongsberg industrial cluster is strengthened by this acquisition, and combined with the prominent space community in Tromsø, Norway now has a powerful platform for further industrial development of the space sector.