While we’ve got an innate fear of the attention inside the sky (and the role it’ll play within the coming robot apocalypse), there isn’t any doubt that observation satellites do lots of good — from recording weather and climate changes to helping coordinate relief efforts within the wake of natural disasters. Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has plans to make stronger planetary monitoring capabilities with its new NovaSAR satellite, and the corporate just received â¤21 million from the united kingdom government to make it happen. NovaSAR works using synthetic aperture radar, so it will probably see through clouds (unlike optical satellites) and gives its services for â¤45 million — or 20 percent of the price of existing space radar platforms. With governmental funding in hand, SSTL can start to develop and build its first such satellite, and the plan is to position it in orbit in two or three years. If NovaSAR does what it has been designed to do, SSTL hopes it might sell and launch enough of them in order that anyplace in the world will be under its gaze in not up to 24 hours. We’re concerned with improving disaster relief efforts, but when you spy these sats overhead on a transparent night, we promote keeping an ear to the bottom in case they’re guiding a military of Alpha Dogs your way.
Rt. Honourable David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, today announced an investment of £21M as a way to enable British small satellite pioneer SSTL to launch an innovative and highly competitive new space-based radar remote sensing programme within the international market.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a strong tool for monitoring the Earth from space caused by its ability to peer through clouds and image Earth night or day. Despite growing demand, the pricetag and complexity of radar satellites severely limit their use where it’s urgently needed – reminiscent of maritime surveillance (anti-piracy, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, pollution), the oil & gas industry (pollution, ice hazards, arctic passages) and environmental & climate monitoring (deforestation, disaster monitoring, relief co-ordination)
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said “Satellites enable us to watch and manage probably the most most vital issues affecting our planet. This exciting project will provide the united kingdom with a global-leading constellation of its own and is a transparent signal of the Government’s continued commitment to the united kingdom space industry.
“NovaSAR will keep us on the forefront of space technology, and could drive growth and innovation as governments and businesses around the globe develop scientific and commercial uses for the info.”
Through a radical development programme, the combined expertise of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) on advanced small satellite platforms and Astrium UK experience on radar payloads has created a brand new small radar satellite (NovaSAR) that gives powerful radar remote sensing capabilities for about 20% of the price of conventional radar missions. The federal government will provide the mandatory seed funding alongside industry to develop and build the primary NovaSAR demonstration satellite, enabling the united kingdom to showcase the highly attractive technology to the worldwide marketplace and initiate a constellation of NovaSAR satellites just like the highly successful Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of optical small satellites. The primary NovaSAR demonstration satellite may be launched as early as 2013.
Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman SSTL commented, “This support by the federal government is totally critical in bringing this world-beating technology to market. Experience with the Disaster Monitoring Constellation has shown that modest Government investment can catalyse a tremendous multiplier for top value manufacturers resembling SSTL, Astrium and the united kingdom space industry to grow our exports and share in a world space market worth greater than £178bn per year.”
Government will contribute £21 million to help within the development and launch of the primary satellite, which if the project progresses as planned will leverage an extra £154 million of inward investment to the united kingdom. Once the NovaSAR constellation is up and running, it’s anticipated that this small Government investment could yield a 50:1 return of £1bn over the arrival decade, creating or maintaining greater than 300 highly skilled jobs within the UK space industry and plenty of hundreds more jobs to supply data analysis services downstream. This impressive return has already been demonstrated by the sooner MOSAIC programme investments that experience enabled SSTL alone to develop from 80 employees to a highly successful space company of 450 and generated greater than £500M in export orders.
Along with securing export orders for satellites within the constellation, the partnership expects a major return on investment from sales of information from the constellation by downstream applications and services anchored within the UK. The govt. would also make the most of access to NovaSAR data – significantly boosting the UK’s sovereign Earth observation capabilities for applications corresponding to monitoring drug trafficking, piracy or identifying illegal logging and deforestation. This represents an example of imaginative ‘smart procurement’ by government that won’t only benefit HMG policy implementation but additionally facilitate significant export sales for the united kingdom within the years ahead.
About SSTL
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is the world’s leading small satellite company, delivering operational space missions for a variety of applications including Earth observation, science and communications. The corporate designs, manufactures and operates high performance satellites and ground systems for a fragment of the cost normally related to space missions, with over 400 staff engaged on turnkey satellite platforms, space-proven satellite subsystems and optical instruments.
Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched 36 satellites – in addition to providing training and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA, NASA, international governments and commercial customers, with its innovative approach it is changing the economics of space.
The Disaster Monitoring Constellation is a world constellation of optical Earth observation small satellites created and led by SSTL that gives commercial imaging and assists in monitoring natural and man-made disasters.
MOSAIC was a central authority programme in 2002 that catalysed using microsatellites to supply fine quality, rapid response optical imaging of disaster-stricken areas and commercial applications which has yielded £200M of direct UK export sales of small satellites for optical Earth observation – a remarkable return on HMG investment for the united kingdom economy.
Based in Guildford, UK, SSTL is owned by EADS Astrium NV.
www.sstl.co.uk
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