This evening SSTL will celebrate the first anniversary of the Earth observation satellites Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2 that were launched in July last year onboard a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The two satellites were quickly commissioned and joined the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to deliver their first images in August just a week after launch.

Deimos-1 was the first Earth Observation satellite built by SSTL for Spanish company Deimos Imaging, who have been capturing fantastic imagery of the world during the year. The following image and many more can be viewed in their online gallery.

It has also been an eventful year for the SSTL's own UK-DMC2 satellite, which captured images of the Forest Fires in California and more recently the spread of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick last month.

Continue reading "A year in orbit for Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2"

At the Farnborough International Airshow last week, the UK signed a historic agreement with Russia leading the way to greater collaboration in space between the two nations. SSTL welcomes this great news, which promises to make it easier for the two nations to benefit from their respective strengths.

SSTL has had a long and successful collaboration with a variety of Russian organisations spanning 20 years, working with the UK and Moscow offices of Commercial Space Technologies (CST Ltd.) as representative and local partner. SSTL and CST have together been one of the major customers for Russian launch services. However, don't think it's a one way street - SSTL is also playing an integral role in the high resolution Kanopus Earth Observation constellation with its partner FSUE NPP VNIIEM.

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting OBE, Executive Chairman of SSTL, commented

We have built up a close relationship with our colleagues at CST and the Russian Space Agency over the last 20 years, successfully launching 21 satellites on-board Russian rockets over 11 launch campaigns. SSTL was the first customer and partner for the DNEPR launch vehicle, allowing Kosmotras to compete in the international market for launch services using this launcher and also the first customer for SSO services from Plesetsk on Cosmos LV. SSTL is extending this relationship into the future through significant participation in the Kanopus high resolution Earth Observation constellation with our partner FSUE NPP VNIIEM and the launch of three further satellites from Russia later this year. I hope that the signing of this MOU between UK Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency will bring further commercial benefits to the space activities and space industries of both countries.

In October, SSTL will launch the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X satellites on behalf of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) by a Dnepr launch vehicle from Yasny, Russia on 29th October 2010.

Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) has ordered nine GPS patch antennas from SSTL for the Cygnus™ advanced manoeuvring spacecraft – for those who don’t recognise the name, this is one of the forthcoming unmanned resupply spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS)!

Orbital is the prime contractor for this spacecraft – which is one of the first truly commercial missions to be conducted for NASA.

The Cygnus spacecraft is being developed by Orbital to demonstrate cargo delivery services under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement. In addition to the COTS development and demonstration program, Orbital will utilise the Cygnus to perform ISS resupply flights under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract. This NASA contract authorises eight missions between 2011 and 2015 carrying approximately 20,000 kg of cargo to the ISS, as well as disposal of ISS waste.

The coming together of the commercial space entrepreneurs and the world’s most established space agency is not the only story here. As you’d expect, flying cargo to the ISS has its challenges, not least of which is manoeuvring and docking with the space station and Cygnus in fact comprises a common service module and a pressurised cargo module.




For more information, visit the Cygnus Factsheet

SSTL manufactures the majority of its sub-systems used in its own and third party missions, they are available to order and have been used extensively on a range of small and larger third party missions. For more details, visit www.sstl.co.uk/divisions/systems-and-services/subsystems