Space blog

The UK is taking charge of an international group providing satellite data to support disaster relief across the world. The British National Space Centre and DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) will lead the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” from October 2007 until April 2008.

The Charter was set up in 2000 to provide satellite data and imagery to help governments and aid agencies plan emergency relief following major disasters. It has provided valuable information to relief agencies after earthquakes, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

When the Charter is activated, Earth observation satellites operated by 14 international organisations are made freely available. The satellites provide data which is then used to produce maps and other information for emergency response efforts.

The UK-built Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is a key member of the Charter. The five satellites were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and are owned individually by Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and the UK.

DMCii will chair the Charter Secretariat. DMCii Managing Director David Hodgson said: “Imagery from the DMC has been provided for more than 50 disasters and is particularly valuable in monitoring fires and floods.

“DMCii is also proud to provide regular emergency on-call services to the Charter and to task the world’s Earth observing satellites in response to disasters.”

Minister for Science and Innovation Ian Pearson said: “The UK is proud to lead this important group. We often think of space as being somewhere to explore, but it can also bring enormous benefits to us here on Earth."

Disaster Monitoring is one of the more direct forms of benefit from space, making it easier for the public to comprehend. The Charter is frequently called into action, or in Charter terms "activated". Charter members have been called on 34 times so far this year including on 14 September after floods devastated 12 countries in West Africa. The Charter was also activated in the aftermath of Hurricane Felix which hit Nicaragua and Honduras on 4 September 2007. The UK has activated the Charter twice this summer following the floods in north and south west England. Satellite data and images were used to produce maps of the flooded areas to help the Environment Agency assess the full extent of the damage.

SSTL is to launch two new enhanced Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) satellites in the fourth quarter of 2008. Deimos-1, which was built for Deimos SL (Spain) and SSTL’s UK-DMC2 will be launched onboard a Dnepr rocket from the new Kosmotras launch site in southern Ural.

Both Demios-1 and UK-DMC2 will carry an enhanced version of the DMC wide area imaging system, providing 600km wide swaths of the Earth in three spectral bands at a ground resolution of 22-metres. This is an advance on the current 32-metre DMC imager, which has been successfully providing imagery for over five years in the current constellation of five spacecraft. Additionally, the new spacecraft have over ten times the capacity for information provision. These significant enhancements reflect SSTL’s evolutionary approach to development that provides state of the art performance with minimal risk. The improved resolution and capacity enable the system to better meet European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program needs, particularly in the areas of forestry and fire.

UK-DMC2 has been funded and developed by SSTL to continue the success of DMC International Imaging (DMCii), which commercially exploits the data and help ensure continuity of the unique service provided by the constellation of DMC satellites for disaster relief and humanitarian aid.

The launch contract has been signed with ISC Kosmotras, with Commercial Space Technologies (CST) acting as the interface between SSTL and the launch agency.

Deimos Imaging (DMI) is part of the Deimos Space Group, and is based in the Boecillo Technology Park, Madrid. DMI is led by the Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque and aims at offering products based on satellite-captured information for use in Earth observation applications. One of the most notable aspects of DMI is the vertical integration of the production chain, which includes its own capture capability through the Deimos-1 satellite, as well as a remote sensing laboratory boasting a high R&D&I capacity.

This September the 2007, the BA's (British Association for the Advancement of Science) Festival of Science will be visiting the University of York. There will be an explosion of science as exciting events take over the University campus, the city and surrounding areas. SSTL's Sir Martin Sweeting will speak at the festival as part of the ongoing celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of Sputnik.

50 years ago, the launch of Sputnik ushered in the space age. Since then, probes have been sent all round the solar system and man has walked on the moon. There are many satellites orbiting the Earth, looking outwards, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and inwards, allowing global communication, mapping and monitoring. Come along to hear tales of all aspects of human involvement in space. The event begins with a Q&A session with young space scientists who will each say a few words on what it is like to work "in space" followed by the opportunity for questions

If you are in the area, why not join in? Sir Martin's presentation is just one of the exciting a varied line up discussing space and space research. He will discuss Satellites in the service of humanity

Martin Sweeting founded and runs one of the UK's most successful satellite manufacturers. He will describe the various uses that satellites can be put to in order to serve humans on Earth, including disaster monitoring and mitigation, navigation and weather forecasting.

Visit the festival website for more details.

SSTL have unveiled plans that could make a UK spacecraft to the Moon a reality. Changing the economics of space, SSTL have made proposals for two missions at a fifth the cost typical of such projects.

In cooperation with the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) have been quietly preparing for a low-cost lunar mission for over a decade. This included projects for the European Space Agency (ESA) and a hardware contribution to the Chandrayaan-1 mission, India's lunar spacecraft due for launch this year. Recent high-profile missions such as GIOVE-A, built by SSTL and launched December last year, and participation in ESA’s Aurora Mars exploration programme have also helped develop affordable technologies in-house that are required for a challenging lunar mission.

Returning to the Moon has been proposed by a large number of international planetary scientists in order to answer several key scientific questions. It is a commonly held view that the Moon is just a lump of rock and that it has been fully explored. The truth is that very little is known about our closest neighbour.

The UK itself has an active lunar science community keen to support such a (robotic) lunar exploration mission, however, for several years these interests have been eclipsed by the drive to Mars. Recently there is a renewed global interest in returning to the Moon, stimulated by several missions planned by the USA (NASA Robotic Lunar Exploration Program), by China (Chang'E lunar satellite) and by India (Chandrayaan lunar satellite).

Technologies developed for Moon exploration can be adapted for further interplanetary exploration – for example, visits to Mars. This is reflected by ESA’s Aurora programme, which has recently broadened its focus away from just Mars to include the Moon - realising that the risk associated with overcoming the major technical challenges that are faced by Mars missions could reduced by effectively testing the technology with relatively inexpensive and timely lunar missions. ESA is considering a robotic mission to the Moon, but is experiencing pressure on the necessary funding to make it happen.

Since June 2006, SSTL and the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) have been working on a study into the feasibility of a low cost UK-led lunar mission funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). The two ideas proposed as a result of the study were named “MoonLITE” (Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecom Experiment) and “MoonRaker”.

The first, MoonLITE, would propel four golf-bag-sized darts called penetrators into the lunar surface from an lunar orbiting satellite. The penetrators would be sent into different regions of the lunar surface not previously visited by the earlier Apollo and Russian missions – including, for the first time, the far side of the Moon. The penetrators would carry a suite of scientific instruments, such as seismometers used to measure “Moonquakes”, to determine the internal composition of the Moon.

The second, MoonRaker, would gently land a craft on the South Pole region of the Moon, relaying information back to the Earth on whether or not there is water or traces of oxygen and hydrogen trapped in permanently shaded areas. The confirmation of these would open the possibility of manufacturing resources needed to sustain human presence on the Moon without having to transport it all from Earth.