Space blog

Malcolm Wicks MP, who was appointed UK Minister of State for Science and Innovation on the 10th November, dropped in to SSTL’s new purpose-built offices last Friday upon invitation to a briefing on the Company's capabilities and the insider's view of the UK space industry. Here’s a summary of the hot topics.

Minister Wicks and Paula Freedman (Director of Space Applications and Transportation at the British National Space Centre) were accompanied by Professor Chris Snowden (Vice Chancellor) of Surrey University, SSTL's majority shareholder.

Pan Altlantic cooperation on the horizon?

The visit to SSTL followed a meeting the previous day between the Minister and Dr Mike Griffin, Administrator of NASA, when a possible role in lunar exploration using the UK's small satellite expertise was amongst the issues discussed.

A global space exploration strategy is being developed by the world's space agencies. It will co-ordinate worldwide efforts to return to the Moon and to explore the solar system with robots, so preparing for the historic first human mission to Mars.

Following the meeting an enthusiastic Minister Wicks commented,

"It's exciting for us to discuss with NASA the possibilities for UK involvement in lunar exploration.

"The UK is a world leader in the market of small affordable satellites. Future collaborations could potentially have a strong commercial return for UK companies in this area.

"This could be the world's largest science and technology programme. We will be considering whether there is an opportunity to build a partnership with the US. We want UK businesses and scientists to benefit from this programme."

SSTL’s satellite engineering heritage and recent successes

SSTL CEO Sir Martin Sweeting presented the Company's capabilities, its heritage built upon 26 successful satellite launches and exciting technologies currently under development. The presentation included GIOVE-A, which was the first satellite launched in 2005 as part of the planned European Galileo navigation system leading up to more recent highlights from the last 2 months. These included contracts for high and medium resolution Earth imaging satellites signed with the Nigerian National Space Research & Development Agency, and Deimos (Spain) for launch in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

No SSTL briefing would be complete without a discussion of the SSTL operated Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) which is taking a leading role in international disaster response through membership of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters.

It was time to hand over to Paul Stephens, Marketing Director of DMC International Imaging (DMCii), who spoke about the DMC and how it uses 32m multi-spectral resolution and 4m panchromatic payloads to capture images from a wider swath width (600km) of the Earth than are possible with existing systems in order to maximise the efficacy of the constellation.

More than just Disaster Monitoring

As regular Space Blog readers will know, the DMC is used for more than just monitoring disasters. Mr Stephens demonstrated the range of applications that have been stimulated by the constellation's unique daily revisit capability including precision agriculture, fire and flood monitoring in addition to the benefits of wide area coverage which include monitoring deforestation in the Amazon basin, land cover mapping in Europe, whole country mapping and illicit crop monitoring.

Into the heart of production

Following a tour of the groundstation and manufacturing design laboratories, Sir Martin Sweeting accompanied Minister Wicks on a tour of the Assembly, Integration and Test facilities on the Surrey Space Centre, where the five satellites of the RapidEye constellation being built for MDA on behalf of German company RapidEye AG.

As part of SSTL's continuing growth strategy - recently manifested in the signing of the NigeriaSat-2 and DEIMOS contracts mentioned in this blog, SSTL is recruiting heavily over the next few months. Over 30 roles are currently being filled, particularly in Project Management, Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering. Keep your eyes on Space Blog and the SSTL website for mre details.

There is more space to work in at SSTL, and I don't just mean the new purpose built offices - UK space innovators SSTL are recruiting and it is the chance of a lifetime to see your ideas make it into space.

As part of SSTL's continuing growth strategy - recently manifested in the signing of the NigeriaSat-2 and DEIMOS contracts, SSTL is recruiting heavily over the next few months. Over 30 roles are currently being filled, particularly in Project Management, Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering.

SSTL's HR team visited Portsmouth recently for a recruitment open evening and took along some engineers and Senior Managers. 55 people showed up, many of which are being shortlisted now - so if you want your name added to the list get on down to the latest recruitment event tonight (5th December) in Stevenage at the Express by Holiday Inn, Danestrete. Here is a link, otherwise point your GPS at:

DANESTRETE
STEVENAGE,
SG1 1XB
ENGLAND

SSTL is also planning an open evening at their office in Guildford, Tycho House in the new year - details to be confirmed.

Hot off the press - LeoTerra LLC, an emerging Low-EarthOrbit (LEO) satellite communications company and TerreStar Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Motient Corporation (MNCP), announced today their intent to explore the feasibility of providing interoperable, advanced global mobile broadband communication services from their respective LEO and Geo-Stationary (GEO)-based satellite networks. The interoperability of these LEO/GEO satellite communication systems would provide global mobile broadband communications to support public safety and emergency providers as well as offer rural connectivity and wholesale wireless network extension services to retail operators.

Over the past several months, LeoTerra and TerreStar have been working together to develop a strategy to provide previously unavailable products and services over both networks using a common terminal or handset device. LeoTerra and TerreStar have asked Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), LeoTerra’s satellite design partner, to study these advanced services.

"Working with our leading-edge small satellite builder and TerreStar, we hope to design an innovative platform to provide truly mobile broadband solutions across the globe," said David Marshack, CEO of LeoTerra LLC.

"Emerging customer requirements are compelling us to explore this opportunity," said Robert H.Brumley, President and CEO of TerreStar Networks Inc. "By combining our unique capabilities with LeoTerra's and SSTL we hope to provide our government and commercial partner's access to IP-based, global mobile broadband access anywhere.”

Based on a platform designed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a leader in the design, manufacture and deployment of LEO satellites, LeoTerra's network will look to employ small, high-power satellites that will allow on-demand constellation growth while providing new, higher levels of service. By coupling LeoTerra's scalable design with the flexibility of TerreStar's all-IP, integrated GEO satellite/terrestrial network, the team hopes to provide users with previously unavailable coverage and adaptability. TerreStar plans to launch the largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite ever deployed.

"SSTL is very pleased to have been invited to participate in exploring the feasibility of providing this innovative service. We expect that SSTL's unparalleled combination of value-for-money and extensive experience in orbit – gained through 26 satellite missions – will provide the team with a leading edge capability," said Sir Martin Sweeting OBE FRS, Director of the Surrey Space Centre and CEO of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Over the coming months the team intends to work with vendor partners, government agencies
and commercial enterprises to develop a suite of comprehensive, leading-edge products and
services.

The first LeoTerra satellites are to be launched into polar orbit, planned for a 2008 launch. Visit the LeoTerra LLC website for more background on its exciting satellite system designed to deliver mobile broadband anywhere.

TerreStar, a subsidiary of Motient Corporation (MNCP), plans to build, own and operate North America's first next-generation integrated mobile satellite and terrestrial communications network that will provide universal access and tailored applications throughout North America over conventional wireless devices. With a first-to-market launch strategy in 2008, TerreStar expects to offer customer-designed products and applications over a fully optimized 4G IP network.

LeoTerra press release (pdf)