Space blog

Hot off the press. The deal promises more investment and the financial backing of the larger parent company, whilst preserving SSTL's unique market position and vision in changing the economics of space.

EADS Astrium, Europe’s leading space company, has entered into an agreement to acquire the innovative University of Surrey spin-out company Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), which specialises in the design and manufacture of small and micro satellites. This landmark deal provides the financial and industrial resources required for SSTL’s expansion and future development. Completion of the acquisition is subject to obtaining the relevant regulatory approval.

“In the UK we are renowned for our design and manufacture of telecommunications satellites, interplanetary spacecraft and satellite services provision. SSTL is one of the great success stories of the UK space industry and will be a substantial complement to what we can offer customers around the world with its expertise in small and micro satellites and their innovative approach to developing new markets for space,”.

Colin Paynter, CEO of Astrium in the UK.

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman of SSTL, has been an active ambassador for the UK space industry for many years and considers the acquisition as essential:

“SSTL operates in a highly competitive global market. If we are to continue changing the economics of space and provide the innovative solutions our customers demand we must expand and maintain our R&D investment. This acquisition strengthens SSTL enormously whilst preserving our unique approach to space.”

You can tune in to a podcast with Sir Martin to hear his personal thoughts on the deal by clicking here.

Professor Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey commented:

“This is a great move for both the University and SSTL. On completion, this will represent one of the largest cash spin-outs from any UK university. It will also allow the Company to realise its full potential as a rapidly growing and leading supplier of small and micro satellites, whilst the University retains the benefit of close interaction with SSTL and its new partner EADS Astrium. By retaining a small stake in SSTL the University shows its commitment to both the future of the Company and space research itself.”

SSTL is joining EADS Astrium following a decision by the University of Surrey to sell its majority stake of circa 80% in the small satellite manufacturer. SSTL will remain an independent UK company with its individual brand and unique approach to space following the agreement, whilst benefiting from access to the resources of a large corporation including design, manufacturing and test facilities. Astrium will benefit from enhanced links with the University of Surrey to support staff training and development, also leading to greater cooperation and increased research on space technology and systems.

Astrium is one of the world’s leaders for its expertise in space transportation, spacecraft and satellite services including prime contractor for Ariane 5, the Columbus space laboratory and the Automated Transfer Vehicle for the International Space Station, and its leading-edge large and complex geostationary telecommunications satellites, and the Skynet 5 secure communications system for the UK Ministry of Defence. SSTL will complement Astrium’s existing space capabilities that include space transportation, satellites and services.

Under the share purchase agreement, SSTL will be owned by EADS Astrium NV in the Netherlands. Completion of the transaction remains subject to approval by the relevant merger control authorities.

The agreement sees long-term research collaboration between the University of Surrey and EADS Astrium and will further advance the University’s cutting edge space research capacity. The collaboration will also allow Astrium to benefit from staff training and development opportunities afforded by the links with the University. The sale will support the already-strong presence that Guildford and the south-east have in the aeronautical and space industries, creating a centre of expertise for space technology. This will allow for the region to benefit from the Government’s commitment to invest in the UK space industry.

A pioneering experiment was launched onboard UK-DMC in 2003, that uses signals reflected from the GPS signals already in orbit to monitor the weather at sea. The joint team experiment team, comprising SSTL and the University of Surrey members has now succeeded for the first time in capturing a Galileo signal from SSTL's GIOVE-A satellite reflected off the ocean surface. Although the signal was weak, because the equipment is optimised for receiving GPS signals, this is an important achievement demonstrating the potential for determining the weather at sea with remote sensing satellites.

What's more, it seems this new development is well timed - the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO), a distinguished partnership of international scientists is calling for a stable network of satellites for surveying vast extents of the surface of the ocean to enable societal benefits' (see POGO release, BBC).

Coincidentally, HRH Duke Of Kent was visiting SSTL at the time and was given a whistlestop tour which touched on "bistatic radar" and "forward scatterometry" (keep reading...).

The pioneering GPS Reflectometry Experiment was launched onboard SSTL’s UK-DMC satellite in 2003 to demonstrate the use of GPS reflections to determine the roughness of the ocean, using a method called “bistatic radar” or “forward scatterometry”. This experiment has now successfully detected a Galileo satellite navigation signal reflected by the ocean’s surface. GIOVE-A, the first Galileo demonstration satellite, also built by SSTL, was commissioned by the European Space Agency and has been transmitting prototype Galileo signals since its launch in December 2005.

In early November, 20 seconds of data were captured in orbit above the Arafura Sea, north of Australia, and downloaded to Surrey for processing. Whilst the orbiting experiment on UK-DMC is not optimised for Galileo signals, enough of the reflected signal energy was received to allow the detection and plotting of the weak signal after processing by University of Surrey PhD student, Philip Jales. The shape of the reflection gives an indication of the sea roughness and hence the weather at that place and time, where the wind speed was around 14 mph (22 km/h).

SSTL's Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) / GPS head, Dr Martin Unwin (centre left) explained

“This is an important achievement in remote sensing and demonstrates the potential offered by Galileo for scientific purposes. A constellation of small satellites could be deployed at low cost to take measurements over the oceans where there are large gaps in forecast knowledge at present. An improved measurement system in space could be used to warn mariners of storms and to provide data for global climate change models - potentially even to detect Tsunamis.”

Dr Unwin is also enthusiastic about benefits of inter-system cooperation:

“Signals from Galileo, in conjunction with GPS and the Russian and Chinese systems, Glonass and Compass, can all be used as part of a new tool for ocean sensing. The future high bandwidth signals transmitted by Galileo, in particular, will enable higher resolution measurements of special interest to scientists, for example, in resolving wave heights”

GPS Reflectometry is of great interest to engineers and scientists as a cost effective means of remote sensing. Firstly, a special transmitter is not required because GPS signals are already broadcast to the Earth 24 hours a day. Also, a satellite dedicated to GPS reflectometry would only need to carry a modified miniaturised GPS/Galileo receiver and an antenna, which could potentially be accommodated on a tiny 10 kg satellite platform at low cost, enabling multiple satellites on a single launch.



The concept is shown in the animation shown to the left (this is freely available and can be embedded into blogs from YouTube).

The UK-DMC Reflectometry Experiment has also previously been used to detect GPS signals reflected off ice and, surprisingly, dry land. The value of these measurements has yet to be fully explored but they may be used as inputs for climate modelling.

A future revision of the experiment, the “GNSS Reflectometry Instrument” is now being designed at Surrey with a view to flight on a future satellite mission. It is being designed specifically to receive Galileo signals as well as those from GPS, with the intention of real time processing. Dr Unwin's final words on the matter, “The sooner Galileo is up and transmitting the better”

SSTL have successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for NigeriaSat-2. The 300kg satellite will provide Nigeria with valuable geographically referenced high-resolution satellite imaging for applications in mapping, water resources management, agricultural land use, population estimation, health hazard monitoring and disaster mitigation and management, and will enable Nigeria to join the second generation Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC).

The PDR marks a significant milestone for the project and reflects the confidence of Nigeria's National Space Research And Development Agency (NASDRA) that the design proposed by SSTL will achieve their mission objectives.

The next step for NigeriaSat-2 is the Critical Design Review (or CDR). In the interim, SSTL will finalise the design of the NigeriaSat-2 spacecraft and ground segment and plans for the full satellite manufacture will be implemented. This is an exciting period for the small satellite manufacturer, because NigeriaSat-2 will use a new, more agile satellite platform (pictured left).

The PDR included the kick-off for the NX spacecraft, which the Nigerian engineers being trained at SSTL and the University Of Surrey will build alongside NigeriaSat-2 under the supervision of SSTL engineers as part of their Know-How Transfer and Training (KHTT) scheme. The Nigerian engineers presented the work undertaken during their training at SSTL and are preparing for the next stage, Mission Design Review, which will take place in August.

Customer representatives from the National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA), along with their technical advisors, Telesat of Canada, attended seven days of meetings at SSTL's headquarters in Guildford as part of the PDR.

NigeriaSat-2 is scheduled for launch in 2009.