GUILDFORD, UK (Surrey Satellite PR) — Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) has signed an agreement with Republic of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) to provide a share of the tasking and data acquisition services from NovaSAR-1, the innovative small S-Band radar satellite launched into a 580km sun synchronous orbit in September 2018.
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GUILDFORD, UK (Surrey Satellite PR) — Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has shipped a 16kg Target satellite for Astroscale’s End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) mission to Tokyo, where it will be bolted to the Chaser satellite for environmental testing ahead of launch in 2020.
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GLOUCESTERSHIRE, England, 19 July 2019 (Virgin Orbit PR) — Virgin Orbit, Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company, announced today that it has been selected by the U.K.’s Royal Air Force (RAF) to provide responsive launch capabilities for a small satellite constellation Operational Capability Demonstrator through a new RAF project named “ARTEMIS.”
First announced by Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt yesterday at the Air and Space Power Conference, the ultimate goal of ARTEMIS is to demonstrate the utility of small satellites and responsive launch to provide information to the RAF and allied personnel on operationally relevant timelines. Secretary Mordaunt confirmed that the department has already committed £30 million ($33.6 million) to fast-track the ARTEMIS program.
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FORMOSAT-7 satellite (Credit: Surrey Satellite)
GUILDFORD, UK (Surrey Satellite PR) — The successful launch on 24 June 2019 (EST) of 6 satellites for the FORMOSAT-7 joint US-Taiwanese weather forecasting constellation marks the start of another SSTL-enabled space mission, a cause for celebration at SSTL’s UK HQ.
Mating of the Quantum Satellite. (Credit: Airbus)
TOULOUSE, France, 28 May 2019 (SSTL PR) — The payload and the platform for the EUTELSAT QUANTUM satellite were successfully joined together at the Airbus facility in Toulouse on 10th May.
The satellite has been developed as an ESA Partnership Project with satellite operator Eutelsat and satellite manufacturer Airbus, under ESA’s programme of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) leveraging on Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, which provided the satellite’s innovative platform.
SSTL’s future technology demonstration mission flying the new OSS deployable SAR antenna. (Credit SSTL)
GUILDFORD, UK (Surrey Satellite PR) — Two of the UK’s leading Space sector companies, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and Oxford Space Systems (OSS) have been awarded National Space Technology Programme funding to develop an innovative and stowage-efficient Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.
SURREY, UK (University of Surrey PR) — The RemoveDEBRIS satellite, one of the world’s first attempts to address the build-up of dangerous space debris, has successfully used its on-board harpoon-capture system in orbit.
The Airbus Stevenage designed harpoon featured a 1.5 metre boom deployed from the main RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft with a piece of satellite panel on the end. The harpoon was fired at 20 metres/sec to penetrate the target and demonstrate the ability of a harpoon to capture debris.
The SSTL-built Eutelsat Quantum platform is pictured in SSTL’s cleanroom in Guildford, UK. (Credit: SSTL)
GUILDFORD, UK, 9 January 2019 (ESA PR) — The last component of British-built chameleon satellite, Eutelsat Quantum, is getting ready to leave home for good.
The final piece of equipment is part of the new SSTL platform; the chassis that provides a payload with structure, power and the ability to propel itself through space.
DoT-4 spacecraft (Credit: Surrey Satellite)
GUILDFORD, UK (SSTL PR) — Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has today announced that it is designing a low cost 35kg lunar communications satellite mission called DoT-4, targeted for a 2021 launch. DoT-4 will provide the communications relay back to Earth using the Goonhilly Deep Space Network, and will link up with a rover on the surface of the Moon. SSTL is currently in discussions with a number of parties for the lunar mission, and expects to disclose further information on mission partners and funding early in 2019.
BREMEN, Germany (UKSA PR) — The United Kingdom and Australia will co-operate on activities including communications technologies, space situational awareness and satellite navigation, Science Minister Sam Gyimah announced today (3 October).
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany, provides a framework for collaborative activities and the exchange of information, technology and personnel between both nations.
