SMi and SSTL have teamed up to organise a conference "The Increasing Potential of Small Satellites" which will take place at the Surrey Research Park in Guildford this December. The event follows on from the sell-out of The Potential of Small Satellites Masterclass in 2009. Register for a comprehensive survey of both the current and future technologies involved in small satellite design, and also the current and future applications to which those technologies can be applied.

SSTL's Internationally renowned Military space expert Dr. Stuart Eves will lead a Masterclass that combines presentations, discussions and interactive learning offering delegates:

• An understanding of the current potential of small satellites and an insight into their future capabilities.


• Insight into the field of small satellite engineering, since system design, satellite technology and data processing applications.


• A chance to see some of the world’s latest small satellite technology “in the flesh”.

Delegates will spend a full day at the SSTL headquarters on the Surrey Research Park in Guildford, with the opportunity to see SSTL’s ground control facilities and satellite assembly facilities.

Satellites are changing the way we live, and small satellites are at the forefront of this revolution. This makes the conference relevant to any organisation with an interest in communications, remote sensing, navigation, and high-technology scientific investigation. You'll be in good company - last year's attendees included US Army, Canadian Space Agency, Verhaert Space, Netherlands Space Office, European Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space, Logica, Ordnance Survey, CNES and Tesat-Spacecom.

To find out more about this conference visit SMi: The Increasing Potential of Small Satellites

Development of a new instrument that could use satellite navigation signals to determine sea-surface roughness, ice characteristics, or soil moisture content has received a boost from the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI). The SSTL-led team will continue the development in a CEOI funded project. The CEOI is an initiative to develop the next generation of Earth observation instruments, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Technology Strategy Board (TSB).

The new project will continue the development of the instrument that exploits signals from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) satellites that are reflected from land, ice and ocean.

Continue reading "SSTL leads GNSS reflectometry prototype"

SSTL is sponsoring a team of students that have been enrolled in the Engineering Education Scheme (EES) to help solve real and live problems for engineering, applied science and technological companies. The Scheme is set up by the Engineering Development Trust (EDT), with the aim to provide students aged 16 and 17 with experience in engineering, science and technology in order to make informed decisions about their future education and career.

During the 6 month programme, the students who all currently attend Farnborough 6th Form College, will take on the task set by SSTL to “Investigate possible ways of detecting earthquake precursor signals using satellites, to help us move from disaster monitoring to disaster mitigation”. The project will be mentored by SSTL Radio Frequency team member David Sanderson.

David met with the four budding engineers and their school teacher to give them a tour of the SSTL clean rooms, a presentation on small satellite engineering and introduced them to the project, which will end in April or May with a Celebration and Assessment Day by professional engineers.

The aim of the project is to provide SSTL’s Mission Concepts team with carefully calculated information, including mass, volume and power estimates, for a pre-selected list of sensors. These estimates can then be used to determine the size of the mission required to carry them.

The time has come around again for The British Science Festival, an event which is organised by the British Science Association, and takes place every September. The University of Surrey, Guildford, will host of the festival this year with further events scheduled throughout the rest of the county. The festivities begin tomorrow, on Saturday 5th September and draw to a close on the 10th.

There are lots of activities to get involved in during the 6 day event, including discussions, plays and talks. SSTL's Sir Martin Sweeting, Andy Bradford, and Dave Hodgson are amongst the speakers at the Festival. Both Bradford and Sweeting hail from local Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), with Hodgson making an appearance from DMC International Imaging Ltd.

Continue reading "British Science Festival kicks off tomorrow"