In October 2010 SSTL kicked off a reliability study for the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with BAE Systems, looking at alternative approaches to designing and analysing system-level reliability for low cost telecommunications missions.

ARTES-1 is the preparatory element to the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme. The ARTES-1 programme is fully funded by ESA and enables European and Canadian industry to explore innovative concepts to produce leading-edge satellite communications products and services through research and development activities.

The study will conclude in the first half of 2012 and will propose alternative reliability prediction methods for the design, development and analysis of space systems within the European space industry in general - and low cost telecommunications satellites in particular.

SSTL is developing a new cost effective telecommunications satellite under the name GMP (Geostationary Minisatellite Platform), currently capable of accommodating payloads of up to 32 transponders requiring up to 3kW of power, and being enhanced to accommodate up to 44 transponders / 4.5kW of power. The GMP’s origins lie in the British National Space Centre’s (now superseded by the UK Space Agency) MOSAIC programme. Work completed under MOSAIC (MicrO Satellite Applications In Collaboration) enabled SSTL to develop GIOVE-A for ESA, the first satellite of the European GNSS constellation launched in 2005 and still operational. At an orbital height of over 23,000 km, GIOVE-A also constituted a successful first move “beyond LEO” for the company.

Drawing upon BAE Systems’ experience in system reliability and SSTL’s cost effective design methodologies, the study project team will produce a set of guidelines to evaluate the reliability of low cost design approaches to telecommunications missions of varying size and complexity.

Dr Matt Perkins, CEO of SSTL, accepted a prestigious industry award for outstanding contributions to technological advancement in aerospace, also involving elegance and commercial significance on Monday 24th January. SSTL was given this award by the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers, that promote excellence in the development of the trade within the modern aerospace, automotive and rail industries, and has been bestowed on the likes of Rolls Royce. SSTL was nominated by Vice-Admiral Timothy James Hamilton Laurence, CB, MVO, CSM, ADC(P)(I), and Matt Perkins accepted the award at a ceremony held at a dinner at the Savile Club.

It’s now five years since Space Blog reported on GIOVE-A transmitting its first signals for the European GNSS system. The first validation satellite GIOVE-A, was launched in December 2005 by a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, and is still working well five years after the satellite payload was commanded 'on' from the SSTL Mission Control Centre.

With a design lifetime of 27 months, the five-year-old has exceeded all expectations. Part of its long lifespan can be put down to design margins, though luck comes into it as well, according to GIOVE manager at ESA, Valter Alpe. The satellite has been orbiting through an exceptionally quiet time in the 11-year solar cycle, meaning it has accumulated lower radiation doses than originally anticipated.

GIOVE-A was built by SSTL in just 30 months and carries a prototype rubidium atomic clock designed for the European GNSS constellation. In 2008 GIOVE-A was joined by GIOVE-B, equipped with an ultra-precise passive hydrogen maser design as well as a second rubidium clock. Operational European GNSS satellites will carry both clock designs for maximum reliability.