Polar bears and spacecraft tracking

Spitzbergen is probably more often associated with polar bears and extreme Arctic winters than with high technology and cutting-edge satellite ground stations. This is now changing! Since the end of 2000, ESOC has been tracking the ERS-2 spacecraft from a ground station at Spitzbergen. Now, a new phase in the cooperation between ESA and Norway is about to commence, with the establishment of a long-term agreement for the provision of launch and early-orbit-phase and routine-operations services from Spitzbergen for the soon to be launched Envisat satellite.