We hope you enjoyed the first half of our year in review yesterday, but there’s more to cover and it is the season for giving after all…

In October the SSTL-50, SSTL’s new microsatellite platform, landed at The International Astronomical Congress (IAC) in Cape Town, South Africa. The SSTL-50 is a highly cost-effective satellite design that can be built and launched in just 12 months. Its small size also means that two SSTL-50’s can fit facing each other in a space head module – so double the amount of satellites can be launched in one go. It doesn’t just redefine cost effective space (again), but its dual-mode design also offers scientific missions state-of-the-art innovation with the piece of mind of SSTL’s heritage platform avionics.



UoSat-1 also celebrated its 30th anniversary during the Cape Town gathering. Very close to the hearts of many at SSTL (and apparently Evan Davis’ father) UoSAT-1 was the blueprint for all future SSTL missions, pioneering small cost-effective satellite designs that capitalised on the microcomputer revolution. SSTL was later founded by Sir Martin Sweeting based on the success of UoSAT-1 and its successors.

Exciting new technology, NovaSAR, was also launched at the IAC. NovaSAR uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that allows satellites to capture images in all conditions because they can see through clouds and at night. The UK government announced an investment of £21 million to support the first satellite, planting the seed for a new high-tech service industry in the UK built upon the provision of low-cost radar.

October also saw the successful launch of two first in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites that will become part of the fully-fledged European GNSS constellation. SSTL is currently building the first 14 payloads for what will become Europe’s equivalent to the American Global Positioning System (GPS). The Constellation will begin operation in 2014 as a free consumer navigation service once the remaining satellites are launched.



Alongside building satellites for its customers, SSTL remains as passionate about innovation as ever. One recent project has brought together researchers at the Surrey Space Centre and passionate SSTL engineers during lunch breaks to develop STRaND-1, a 30cm long nanosatellite which is powered by a common smartphone. During the summer the STRaND-1 team launched a SpaceApp Facebook competition that offered entrants the chance to run their App on the satellite’s Google Nexus One smartphone in orbit.

In the spirit of the mission, the SpaceApp winners were selected based upon their creativity, scientific benefit and ability to inspire young people. Winning Apps included iTesa which will record the magnitude of the magnetic field around the phone during orbit, and “Scream in Space” which will test the tagline from Ridley Scott’s film Alien 'in space no-one can hear you scream’ by playing videos and using the smartphone's microphone. One App even promises Postcards from space – well have you had one before? You can follow STRaND-1 and the SpaceApp competition winners on Twitter @SurreyNanosats and Facebook www.facebook.com/nanosats

It’s not just the number of satellites that is increasing in 2011: SSTL itself has grown dramatically. This year an incredible 116 staff joined, bringing total numbers to 447.

We would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Stay tuned to find out more about space, the universe and everything in 2012. Don’t want to miss a blog? Subscribe here.

In 2011 Europe has launched its first satellites into its future GNSS constellation, America has found Earth-like planet Kepler-22b while China has dominated space news, and Russia’s stricken Phobos-Grunt has brought the year to a close.

Following the formation of the UK Space Agency in 2010, the UK has also had a busy year – especially here at SSTL. We have seen important projects reach major milestones, celebrated anniversaries, and unveiled some very exciting new space technologies to the world.

In February, the Disaster Monitoring Constellation celebrated its 10th birthday. This unique international collaboration was set up to gather and distribute images of disaster zones anywhere in the world, and assisted disaster relief during Hurricane Katrina, the Asian Tsunami and many other disasters. SSTL’s remote sensing subsidiary, DMCii, also led the International Charter of Space and Major Disasters for 6 months from May to November, taking the reins as the world reeled from the devastation caused by the earthquake in Japan. Servicing its members’ national programmes, disaster relief and commercial imaging campaigns, the constellation has continued to grow this year with the launch of two Nigerian satellites.



NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X were launched from Yasny, Russia on the 17th August. They are the tangible outcome of a comprehensive programme that included the training of some 26 Nigerian engineers – in fact, NigeriaSat-X was the first satellite to be built by Nigerians for Nigeria. NigeriaSat-2 was the first satellite using the new SSTL-300 platform to be launched, further pushing the price/performance boundaries for small observation satellites with its unrivalled agility. Apart from super-clear high resolution imaging NigeriaSat-2 can uses its off-pointing to acquire stereoscopic images and build a 3D picture to map terrain. Nigeria has big plans for its new satellite, from monthly crop monitoring for increased food security, and keeping tabs on the country’s rapid urban growth.

In June, DMCii signed an impressive £110 million deal with Beijing-based company 21AT during the Chinese premier’s visit to the UK to lease the imaging capacity of three high-resolution satellites for applications such as disaster response and urban planning. The SSTL-built satellites, which are based upon the SSTL-300 platform but carry a higher resolution 1m imaging payload, will form a constellation named DMC3. The deal addresses growing demand for images from the small imaging satellite Beijing-1 which was built by SSTL and launched for 21AT in 2005.

2011 also marked the opening of SSTL’s new £10 million world-class technical facility, The Kepler Building, providing assembly, testing and integration of satellite platforms and payloads. Co-located with SSTL’s headquarters, this secure building, with its state-of-the-art cleanrooms, laboratories and testing facilities, provides enhanced abilities to design, build, and test spacecraft for customers around the world in one place – and looks good in the process!



TechDemoSat-1 is one of the projects underway in Kepler. A pioneering small satellite showcasing some of UK industry’s most promising space technologies, it will give participating academia and companies early flight heritage – the lack of which has previously been a barrier to market acceptance. We’re expecting some TechDemoSat-1 updates very soon so watch this space!

It’s been such a busy year for SSTL, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow for the second half of SSTL’s Year in Review. In the meanwhile, why not treat yourself this Christmas and subscribe to Space Blog by opening your present above and make sure you don’t miss it (or any other blog) again!

Broadcast journalist Evan Davis is a busy man of many hats. When he’s not on Radio 4’s Today Programme he can be spotted presenting Dragon’s Den or Made In Britain – both of which share his passion for British entrepreneurism and innovation. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Open University has appointed Evan Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Business, where he recently delivered his first public lecture, Reflections on the British Economy.



Made in Britain viewers’ eyes were opened to a hidden world of British high-tech manufacturing and engineering that Britain is actually very good at – banishing the view that nothing is made in Britain anymore. It was a refreshing look at the positives amidst the UK PLC’s current economic woes. Evan’s lecture on 1st November follows same theme high-tech British manufacturing in the international arena, focusing specifically on three key areas:

• the continuing contribution of manufacturing.


• the UK’s comparative advantage in intellectual property


• the threats from emerging economies as they develop tradable services.

SSTL’s Stephen Gibson enjoyed his lecture, but little did he know that when he posed a question that Evan Davis would share a “soft spot” for SSTL. It turns out his father was not only an electronic engineer at the University of Surrey, but moreover the Phd supervisor to SSTL founder Sir Martin Sweeting as he designed the first low cost small satellites that our University spin-out has pioneered for the last 25 years. As a teenager, Evan even saw the original UoSAT in the University of Surrey and he is said to be a keen follower of SSTL’s progress.

You can watch Evan’s lecture on the Open University website, and followers who are interested can also hear Evan’s response – and revelations! – in this video from the Q&A session.