After some tough judging, engineers at SSTL and the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) have chosen the four winning Apps to go up in space on STRaND-1, the smartphone satellite. Entering a competition through Facebook, the four winners were chosen for their Apps’ scientific benefits, their creativity, or the App’s ability to get young people enthusiastic about science and technology.

Smartphones today are incredibly powerful, and whilst they share many features with conventional satellites such as cameras and sensors, a smartphone payload also means that STRaND-1 is packed with unique features. One of the main challenges for the Space App winners was to find an innovative way to incorporate some of the smartphone features, like the camera, screen, loudspeaker or microphone, in an App designed to run in the very different environment onboard a satellite. The winning Apps are diverse in nature, but all make smart use of the smartphone - enabling STRaND-1 to do things in space that no one has done before.

As any fan of the 1979 sci-fi classic ‘Alien’ will know, ‘in space no one can hear you scream’, but has anyone ever actually tested this hypothesis? That’s exactly what the student-run team Cambridge University Spaceflight group plans to do with their winning App. Their ‘Scream in Space!’ App uses the smartphone’s display, microphone and speakers to play videos of people screaming on a youtube video and record it in space. Aiming to interest young people in scientific methodology, the public are invited to upload videos of themselves to a website, from which the most popular screams will be played on the phone when the satellite is in orbit. Visitors to the website will later be able to view (and maybe hear!?) the results of this experiment.

Continue reading "SpaceApp winners worlds apart but orbit together"

During the past 25 years building satellites, SSTL has been instrumental in changing the economics of space for customers ranging from established space players such as ESA and NASA through to establishing new space programs for nations taking their first steps in space. With the incredible advances in engineering and electronics during this time, smaller satellites are increasingly catching up with their larger counterparts. The question technology guru Shaun Kenyon from Mission Concepts is now asking himself is: What can we do with today’s 50kg satellites and how does that compare to smallsats?

The answer to that question is simply; a lot! Known as nanosatellites (nanosats), these low mass satellites (for the purpose of this discussion let’s assume less than 50kg) are capable of a broad range of applications, including scientific research and Earth observation. The laws of physics makes some things more challenging though – for example preventing their use for applications such as high resolution imaging because a camera must maintain a minimum size of aperture to deliver such resolution.

Continue reading "What’s smaller than small? - Nanosats"

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

SSTL founder, and Director of the Surrey Space Centre, Professor Sir Martin Sweeting gave a talk on small satellites for the Appleton Lecture organised by the IET on 19th January.

The Appleton Lecture was established in 1965 to commemorate the life and work of Sir Edward Appleton, a widely honoured physicist and Nobel Prize winner who is mainly noted for research into the upper atmosphere. In keeping with this theme, Sir Martin was invited as a world renowned expert on satellites, to give an hour long talk Small Satellites - Big Future. For anyone who missed the lecture on the 19th January, the IET has made it avaliable online at IET.tv.

If you have an interest in SSTL, satellite engineering and the future of space technology to tune in online - it's a very good watch. Just click on Small Satellites - Big future.