Flight proven satellite platforms from Surrey Satellite Technology US LLC (SST-US) have been selected by NASA's Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO) for inclusion in the third NASA Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition Catalog (Rapid III).

SST-US’ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. John Paffett stated

It is a privilege for SST-US to have been selected by NASA for inclusion in the Catalog. It is recognition of the company’s capabilities, expertise and heritage. We believe that the Catalog provides an efficient route for SST-US to provide rapid, low risk, cost effective satellite solutions to NASA and other Government Agencies and we look forward to delivering future mission opportunities.

Through this contractual framework SST-US will be able to engage with NASA and other Government Agencies for the rapid provision of low risk, cost effective satellite solutions based on the SSTL 150, 300 and 600 platforms.

Continue reading "SST-US platforms get NASA seal of approval"

Using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits on the Moon near its north pole.

This is exciting news the World over because water is a key factor in the ability of an extra terrestrial environment to support life. The SSTL team is also watching with great interest because the payload is controlled by a specially built on-board computer (OBC) built by its team in Guildford - its first to be flown onboard a lunar mission. The OBC is programmed to control the instrument and to store the payload data which is then beamed back to the astounded NASA scientists on Earth.

NASA's Mini-SAR instrument found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 1 to 9 miles (2 to 15 km) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it's estimated there could be at least 1.3 trillion pounds (600 million metric tons) of water ice.

Continue reading "Chandrayaan-1 finds water on the Moon"

Sir Martin Sweeting :

So President Obama has scrapped the US plans for a manned return to the Moon. As the world claws it way out of recession, many might see this decision as being financially prudent. However, the exploration of the lunar surface is still very much on the agenda. But it won’t be man making one small step next time, it will be a robot!

Several nations are planning robotic lunar missions including India, China, Korea and interestingly, the USA. And when you think about it, this makes perfect sense because robotic lunar missions are much more cost effective than manned missions, although not so emotive. Of course, robotic exploration is nothing new with NASA and ESA both utilising this technology, but it’s still very expensive. The price tag for the European ExoMars programme is around €1Bn which is a lot of money in any currency. But does robotic exploration have to be this expensive?

At SSTL we don’t think so. We think it is possible to knock a “0” off the cost of mounting lunar robotic exploration mission by simply employing the same, well founded, production techniques that SSTL use to reduce the cost of designing and building Earth-orbiting small satellites.

Currently, there is enormous interest in the moon, particularly with the prospect of finding water, the key perhaps to a permanent manned lunar base in the future. The LRO and LCROSS missions are currently surveying the lunar surface to identify future landing sites. Now is the time to mount a low cost robotic mission to Moon in order to prove the technology and its suitability for other more distant planetary missions.

In the spirit of Obama’s new reign, international partners will be enlisted to provide International Space Station (ISS) cargo re-supply, and eventually alternate means for sending crews to the ISS.

The International Space Station is also held up as an outstanding example of what can be accomplished through international cooperation. Though the US has spent billions of dollars to build the station, the microgravity research it was intended to facilitate has fallen victim to funding cuts. Barack Obama says he will ensure that NASA and other federal agencies fully utilize the ISS to conduct research that can help address global challenges such as public health and energy independence and can develop technologies that can provide economic benefits to Earth. Obama says he will also enable research on the ISS to support long-term human exploration and planetary research needs.

Partners and cooperation
Barack Obama will enlist other Federal agencies, industry and academia to develop innovative scientific and technological research projects on the ISS.

The ISS has been a model for international cooperation to achieve peaceful objectives in space, helping develop positive relations with Russia during the 1990s. America must take the next step and use the ISS as a strategic tool in diplomatic relations with non traditional partners.

Human exploration
Obama will use the ISS for fundamental biological and physical research to understand the effects of long-term space travel on human health and to test emerging technologies to enable such travel.

Retaining options for extended operations
Barack Obama will consider options to extend ISS operations beyond 2016. After investing so much in developing the ISS, it would be a shame not to utilize it to the fullest possible extent.