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Swedish Space Corporation Agrees to Acquire Universal Space Network

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 09:04 CST

KIRUNA, Sweden, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Universal Space Network (USN) have reached an agreement in which SSC will acquire all the shares of US-based USN. The two companies have been working in close cooperation for the last ten years, providing satellite owners with access to a cohesive network of ground stations that provide near-global coverage of any spacecraft orbit. PrioraNet, the trademarked name of this worldwide satellite tracking service, has successfully supported civil space, commercial and public missions since 1999.

"This further enhances our collective ability to provide satellite owners and operators with a one-stop shop for global telemetry, tracking, command and data services. With this integration of these two leading businesses, PrioraNet becomes the largest commercial service for satellite operations and communications," says Mr. Lars Persson, President and CEO of the Swedish Space Corporation.

Mr. Tom Ingersoll, CEO of Universal Space Network states, "USN was founded in 1996 by Apollo Astronaut Pete Conrad to make a fundamental change in the space industry through commercialization. Since that time USN has been both a catalyst and a pioneering agent in advancing commercial space communications and operations services in the US. This is an opportunity for us and SSC together to carry this vision to the global space community."

"Throughout this process the primary focus has been on increasing the robustness of our current space communications services while expanding the breadth of commercially based mission critical space operations services to the space industry," remarks Joe Rothenberg, USN President and Customer Service Officer. "We believe that this integration will result in a higher quality of service that will continue to enable more efficient development and execution of innovative space programs," added Rothenberg.

SSC anticipates that the acquisition, which is still subject to US regulatory approval, will be completed within 90 to 120 days of this press release. Upon closing, USN will operate as a US-based subsidiary of SSC.

About SSC:

Swedish Space Corporation - a general contractor in space and aerospace

Swedish Space designs, tests, launches and operates space and aerospace systems. Our operations are carried out within five business units located in Stockholm, Kiruna and Vidsel. At our facility in Stockholm, we develop satellites, space vehicle subsystems and payloads for sounding rockets as well as airborne systems for maritime surveillance. We also own Stockholm Teleport, a ground station for satellite communication services. At Esrange Space Center, east of Kiruna, we launch sounding rockets and balloons and from here we also operate one of the world's busiest civilian satellite ground stations. In addition, we own a satellite ground station in Chile, Santiago Satellite Station. Through the North European Aerospace Test range - NEAT at Vidsel Test Range, RFN, we are involved in testing various air and space vehicles. Swedish Space owns the German company LSE, which provides engineering and satellite operation services, and the Swedish companies ECAPS, which develops and manufactures "green" propulsion systems and NanoSpace, which develops micromechanical systems for space applications. The Swedish Space Corporation group has 550 employees.

About USN:

Universal Space Network, Inc. (USN) is a leader in space operations for telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) services. Offering responsive, reliable and cost-effective solutions to the global government and commercial space community, USN provides unparalleled coverage through a seamless network of worldwide satellite tracking and communications assets. These assets include both those owned by USN and those of our collaborative partners. The company has offices in Newport Beach, CA., and Horsham, PA.

SOURCE Swedish Space Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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