The 4S Symposium 2018 – T. Eriksen 1 VDE-SAT – Preliminary verification results for proposed satellite component of new maritime communications system Torkild Eriksen (1) , Lars Erling Bråten (2) , Andreas Nordmo Skauen (3) , Hans Christian Haugli (4) , Lars Løge (5) , Anders Bjørnevik (6) , Frode A. S. Storesund (7) , Nader S. Alagha (8) Address: (1,2,3) Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), P.O. Box 25, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway (4,5) Space Norway, P.O. Box 66 Skøyen, N-0212 Oslo, Norway (6,7) Kongsberg Seatex AS, Pirsenteret, N-7462 Trondheim, Norway (8) European Space Agency, Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk ZH, The Netherlands E-mail: (1) Torkild.Eriksen@ffi.no, (2) Lars-Erling.Braten@ffi.no, (3) Andreas- Nordmo.Skauen@ffi.no, (4) Hans.Christian.Haugli@spacenorway.no, (5) lars.loge@statsat.no (6) Anders.Bjornevik@km.kongsberg.com, (7) Frode.Storesund@kongsberg.com, (8) Nader.Alagha@esa.int Phone: (1) +47 63807316, (2) +47 63807253, (3) +47 63807328, (4) +47 99350010, (5) +47 99699101, (6) +47 73545570, (7) + 47 73545556, (8) +31 71 565 8285 ABSTRACT The development of the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) is an on-going international effort. The technical recommendation and the communication protocol is being developed by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and its members and provided to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The development of systems and services is supported by among others the European Space Agency (ESA). Frequency allocations for the VHF VDES satellite component (VDE-SAT) will be decided at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19). The first NorSat-2 VDE-SAT test campaign as well as subsequent demonstrations provide experimental results from a real ship environment as basis for system design and frequency allocation. The first downlink verification test campaign for the VDES was carried out in November 2017. During the campaign, the VDE-SAT test payload on-board NorSat-2 transmitted three modulated carriers and a continuous wave beacon signal. Two terminals received the transmissions: One mobile terminal on-board the Norwegian Coast Guard ship KV Harstad, sailing in Arctic waters, and one fixed terminal located at Andøya in northern Norway. The signal level measured on the continuous wave beacon signal at the input of the receiver terminal on-board KV Harstad had a mean value of -118 dBm and a standard deviation of 3.6 dB. 1 INTRODUCTION In November 2017, under the European Space Agency (ESA) contract VDE-SAT Downlink Verification [1], a consortium consisting of Space Norway, Kongsberg Seatex and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) carried out the first in-orbit test and evaluation of the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) satellite component (VDE-SAT). This paper presents preliminary results from studies of the downlinked data from more than 100 satellite passes. The downlink