Download SSTL celebrates 30th anniversary of groundbreaking satellite

Press Release
Thursday 6th October 2011
SSTL celebrates 30th anniversary of groundbreaking satellite UoSAT-1
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is today celebrating the 30th anniversary
of the launch of Surrey’s first satellite, UoSAT-1. Launched into orbit on 6th October
1981, UoSAT-1 was designed and built by a team from the University of Surrey led
by SSTL founder Sir Martin Sweeting.
SSTL exploited the rapid advances being made in the late 1970’s in microelectronics
to enable us to build a tiny but sophisticated satellite using the technology found in
everyday consumer products. As a result, UoSAT-1 was much cheaper, lighter and
quicker to build than comparable existing satellites and so the first modern
‘microsatellite’ was born.
Sir Martin said: “Thirty years later we continue to exploit the amazing technological
advances in consumer products to bring affordable space exploration to SSTL’s
customers, with a range of small satellites spanning 6kg to 600kg for Earth
observation, communications and navigation services. Working with the Surrey
Space Centre on new concepts for small satellites, SSTL maintains its highly
innovative approach – challenging and changing the economics of space.”
Between 1979 and 1981 a dedicated team of four staff and eight part-time academics
worked day and night to build this first British amateur spacecraft, learning satellite
design and construction “on the fly”. Using donated materials and a home made
clean-room, UoSAT-1 was the pioneer of the cost effective “commercial off-the-shelf”
(COTS) based small satellites for which SSTL has become synonymous.
In the early 1980’s satellite equipment was purpose-built for space at huge expense
taking many years, so that the technology used was often obsolete by launch. With
very limited onboard storage and processing power, the Earth observation and
science satellites of the day were micro-managed using expensive world-wide
ground station networks to command them and gather data as they orbited the globe.
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The mass production that fed the public’s appetite for microcomputers made
microprocessors and memory suddenly very affordable. With re-programmable onboard computers and an early 256x256 pixel CCD array imager (a forerunner of
today’s digital camera), UoSAT-1 became the first modern microsatellite operating a
regularly uploaded schedule, storing mission data and returning this to a single
ground station in Guildford – but it was also monitored by thousands of schools and
radio amateurs worldwide using simple receiving equipment.
Fundamentally changing the design and operation of microsatellites allowed the
University, and its spin-out company SSTL, to build smaller satellites that were much
cheaper to launch and didn’t require a network of ground stations – making space
accessible to everyone and not just the global superpowers of the day. Onboard
computing also made it possible to de-risk systems, using software to reconfigure
systems in the event of problems and provide flexible features to support
experiments and failsafe operation.
Since UoSAT-1 was launched 30 years ago, SSTL has continued changing the
economics of space by innovation. By continuing to adopt the latest COTS
technologies and configuring them for use in space, SSTL ensures that innovation
and economics are at the forefront of its satellite design. Its latest platform, the
SSTL-50, is designed to fly new sets of systems on each mission and is geared to
launching new technologies into space quickly and economically. SSTL recently
announced a series of new highly capable satellite systems providing 1-metre high
resolution optical imaging, a SAR (radar) satellite for all-weather day/night remote
sensing and a small geostationary communications satellite. With 8 satellites under
construction or awaiting launch and 14 advanced navigation payloads for Europe’s
GNSS constellation in manufacture, SSTL is busier than ever.
About SSTL
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is the world's leading small satellite
company, delivering operational space missions for a range of applications including
Earth observation, science and communications. The Company designs,
manufactures and operates high performance satellites and ground systems for a
fraction of the price normally associated with space missions, with over 400 staff
working on turnkey satellite platforms, space-proven satellite subsystems and optical
instruments.
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Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched 36 satellites – as well as providing training
and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA,
NASA , international governments and commercial customers, with its innovative
approach that is changing the economics of space.
Based in Guildford, UK, SSTL is owned by EADS Astrium NV.
www.sstl.co.uk
Notes to editor:
JPEG photography of the satellite and the team is available upon request.
This press release can be downloaded as a Word or Pdf document at the following
url: http://www.sstl.co.uk/news-and-events
SSTL Contact:
Joelle Sykes, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804243 Email: [email protected]
Press Contact:
Robin Wolstenholme, bcm public relations
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288 Email: [email protected]
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