Antwerp, December 2, 2011. Antwerp Space NV, a subsidiary of OHB AG (ISIN: DE0005936124, Prime Standard), and Thales Alenia Space France, the industrial prime contractor in the implementation of the European Galileo* Ground Mission Segment (GMS), signed a contract for the design, development and construction of the FOC (Full Operational Capability) phase of the Mission Data Dissemination Network.

The Galileo* system is a programme of and funded by the European Union providing a satellite navigation system as an alternative to the American GPS system. The awarded Galileo* ground network is responsible for interconnecting the different ground stations worldwide, including the ground control stations, the sensor stations and the uplink stations.

The contract has a total value of EUR 11 million and covers activities for the network activities of Antwerp Space until March 2015.
As part of the FOC phase of the Ground Mission Segment network contract, Antwerp Space will extend the existing IOV (In Orbit Validation) ground network, resolve obsolescence issues and include additional features. 

Guy Van Dijck, General Manager of Antwerp Space, comments: "Antwerp Space has an established experience for designing, implementing and deploying secure networks. The award of this contract is a great achievement for the company. We are proud to be part of such an important European programme like Galileo*."

About Antwerp Space:
Antwerp Space, a member of the OHB Group and belonging to OHB's Space Systems Business Unit, develops systems for the European space programmes and commercial space applications worldwide. Antwerp Space provides expertise and system solutions for broadband access systems via satellites, satellite ground control stations for the reception of data from observation satellites and for the control of spacecraft, and test systems used during the integration of satellites.
 

* The OHB project is funded by, and part of, the Galileo programme which is an initiative by the European Union (EU), and where the European Space Agency (ESA) acts in the name of, and on behalf of, the EU. "Galileo" is a trademark subject to OHIM application number 002742237 by EU and ESA.