Lord Sainsbury, UK Minister for Science and Innovation spoke in the International Future for Space forum at the Farnborough Airshow yesterday about the strength of UK space activities.

He also announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the Algerian Space Agency, opening up the possibility of further collaboration between the two countries.

Speaking alongside Mr Jean-Jacques Dordain, the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA); Dr Michael Griffin, the Administrator of NASA; Dr Anatoly Perminov, the Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency; Mr Kaoru Mamiya, the Vice-President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Dr Azzedine Oussedik, the Director General of the Algerian Space Agency, Lord Sainsbury said:

“The UK space industry is worth £4.8 billion and has seen an increase in turnover of 8% in the last year alone, so space really matters to the UK from a commercial point of view."

With more than half the UK’s annual spend in space activities being invested in ESA programmes, Lord Sainsbury gave two examples of how this involvement has been positive for both the UK and Europe.

He said: “UK participation in ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications programme, ARTES, has led to UK companies securing commercial orders to supply satellites to the Paradigm & Inmarsat organisations for their Skynet 5 and Inmarsat-4 series of spacecraft. While in the downstream sector, the UK-led “Highly Adaptable Satellite” (HYLAS) project will begin a low cost and low risk satellite broadband initiative to resolve the problem of the digital divide in Europe.”

Lord Sainsbury also spoke of other international partnerships with strong UK involvement:

“In just a few days time, NASA will launch STEREO. This pair of space-sentinels will provide the first 3D view of solar storms as they hurl billions of tons of material towards our planet. UK universities and laboratories have provided the ‘eyes’ of the two spacecraft.”

He then spoke of the leading role the UK plays in the field of Earth Observation, focussing on the work of SSTL:

“The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of satellites, built by the UK company Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, comprises five satellites which are owned by the UK, Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey and China. In 2005, the UK Government, on behalf of the DMC Partnership, formally joined the world’s major space agencies in adhering to the Charter on ‘Space and Major Disasters’. This is an area of enormous importance for the UK.”

BNSC

SSTL are pleased to see so much talk about their Guildford-built GIOVE-A satellite once again in the news. However, the nature of the news is surprising. Everyone likes a good conspiracy, whether it’s the hacking of the Pentagon computer systems or the decryption of DVDs by a teenager in his bedroom.

As such, when a group of University researchers took an interest in decoding Galileo ( see Members of Cornell University's Global Positioning System Laboratory have cracked the so-called pseudo random number (PRN) codes of Europe's first global navigation satellite, despite efforts to keep the codes secret), a (rather sensationalist) headline caught the imagination of the media. And why not, if Galileo signals were to be given away for free how would the new system be paid for? Furthermore, Galileo, whilst designed to work alongside GPS will inevitably raise some eyebrows in the US, home of GPS.

Confusing, the article explains that GIOVE-A codes have been cracked, but clearly states that these are not the real Galileo codes. Indeed, to crack the Galileo spreading codes is - other than the immediate challenge - a waste of time because Galileo spreading codes are already published (ICD for Galileo is public and available on Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) website.

As the press release fairly commented, SSTL’s Martin Unwin politely refused the request for Galileo signal information. GIOVE-A was designed and built by SSTL, a long time pioneer in space technology for the GJU. The company is renowned for its unique capability to develop highly cost effective, rapid response solutions – in this case the timeframe of 27 months from contract signing to launch represents a highly competitive industry benchmark. As the manufacturer, it is not SSTL’s responsibility to release information about Galileo related services, such information is available through the proper channels as and when they choose to release it.

The mission of GIOVE-A (Galileo In Orbit Validation Element) was to secure the Galileo frequency filing with the ITU, the signals were first received in January at the Chilbolton Observatory. GIOVE-A is now completing secondary mission objectives, collecting information to characterise the radiation environment of the planned medium earth orbits of the eventual Galileo constellation, providing essential feedback for the design of the 30 operational Galileo navigation satellites.

There is no secrecy about GIOVE-A, it is not providing services but test signals used to assess their suitability and performances for the In Orbit Validation of the future Galileo system.

GIOVE-A spreading codes are easy to determine by simple technical analytical means. However, spreading codes have nothing to do with encryption codes. Encryption codes are used to control access to satellites, and access to commercial and PRS services. Galileo encryption codes will be generated by Key Management Facilities (KMF) under development. Encryption codes will not be public, and will have a strong level of protection. In case encryption codes are compromised (cracked) the system will generate new codes to protect the commercial and security integrity of the services provided.

Contrary to miscellaneous media reports, Galileo will provide a free service in a similar way to GPS but with greater (1m) accuracy. Revenue is generated by paid sub – metre location and timing services that will enable new applications. The Programme has already stated on several occasions that the open service will be provided without direct user fees as recollected in the Article 10 of the EC/USA agreement.

Sir Martin Sweeting spoke at Universities UK's Eureka UK event last week about the importance of space research to the UK's economy and standard of living.

Interestingly, the speech (outlined below) highlights the very tangible applications of space technology that play a part in our everyday lives.

Speech at Eureka event

"We have come to take space for granted - so much so that we do not realise how deeply embedded it has become in our everyday lives. Of course, if we stop to think for a moment, most people would recognise that space provides us with satellite TV, weather pictures, stunning images of far galaxies from Hubble, the excitement of rovers on Mars - but all too few outside the space community realise that their personal in-car navigation system is using transmissions received directly from 4-5 US military satellites orbiting some 20,000 km above us….

Indeed, as a nation, we have become fundamentally reliant on space to underpin our lifestyle and security. Fortunately the UK possesses a vibrant and capable space industry - both providing large & small satellites in space (eg. SSTL and Astrium) and exploiting their use once in orbit (eg. BskyB, INMARSAT, Avanti and many others) contributing billions into the UK economy and creating a world-class technical workforce. However, space does not command much attention at the top levels of UK government --- but just contemplate what would happen if we, hypothetically, 'switched off space' ….

• No sat TV - and coverage of the world cup


• No accurate weather forecasts


• With a £1.5bn/year impact to the economy of the UK alone


• We would be blind to the progress of global warming


• We would experience major telecommunications problems
  
  
  
  • to remote locations around the world and to ships or aircraft in flight
    
  • no live news feeds from many parts of the world
    
  • no ability to support disaster relief operations
  
  
  
  
• No SatNav
  
  
  
  • most vehicle fleets could not operate efficiently
  
  
  • our military campaigns would halt -- or increase civilian losses
  
  
  
  
• No universal timing




• used to synchronise power & telecoms network


• Banking and share trading would grind to a halt


• mobile phone networks would stop operating




Very rapidly our economy would falter – we would experience severe problems with food distribution, availability of cash, communications….. and our national security would be vulnerable. These considerations are not lost on other nations - such as the US, France, Germany, Italy, India and China - and developing countries have been quick to realise the importance of space in providing the tools for development and improved economic security (for example, Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey now have their own Earth observation satellites…). In this context, the UK government would be wise to place space further up its agenda – not because it is exotic, but for the economic benefit, security and well-being of the country. Taking space for granted would be negligent.

SSTL's pdf notes on this speech can be found here

SSTL are attending the Farnborough International Airshow next week (Monday 17 to Sunday 23 July 2006). Now in its 45th year, the show caters for the whole aerospace industry, with public visitors such as aviation enthusiasts and families welcome to on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd July 2006.

The International Space Pavilion is once again playing host to the best of the global space industry at Farnborough International Airshow 2006, with exhibitors and visitors from the UK, Europe, Russia, Japan, China and the USA.

BNSC, ESA and UKspace will demonstrate an exciting voyage from the very edge of creation to the future of space exploration and technology for visitors, offering a trip through our Solar System visiting Venus, Mars and the Moon, explore how space is used for telecommunications and satellite navigation and how space is a vital tool in helping us understand weather and climate.

The focus for Space Day on Wednesday 19th July is 'The International Future for Space', with leading VIPs meeting to discuss the future of this growing industry. High-profile figures such as Lord Sainsbury, the UK Minister for Science and Innovation; Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA and Michael Griffin, Administrator of NASA will be in attendance on this day.

Weekday Themes:

Monday 17th July - Industry Day
Tuesday 18th July - Climate Change
Wednesday 19th July - Space Day
Thursday 20th July - Satellite Navigation
Friday 21 July - Youth Day