The first of its kind satellite was launched this
evening (03 December) into a 575 km sun-synchronous
orbit as part of Spaceflight’s SSO-A SmallSat Express
mission on-board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from
Vandenburg Air Force Base, USA, at 18:30 GMT.
VESTA (‘VdES Transmitting sAtellite system) will
support new two-way maritime information services
between ship and shore. The payload was designed and
built by Honeywell
UK in Aylesbury and the spacecraft
by Surrey
Satellites (SSTL) in Guilford.
Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency
said:
There are still vast areas of the Earth where
communication remains difficult, none more so than
out at sea.
Satellites can bridge this gap, however testing new
technology is risky and expensive. That’s why the UK
Space Agency is helping to fund promising UK
technologies like VESTA as part of the government’s
Industrial Strategy, to kick start innovation and
growth, while delivering safety at sea and jobs back
home.
The mission was made possible through £1 million
flagship funding from the UK Space Agency’s
National Space Technology programme which aims
to accelerate innovation and better position UK
organisations to enter and expand within both
institutional and commercial space markets, growing the
UK space economy.
Chris Bee, a Business Manager at Honeywell Aerospace UK
said:
While leading the way in demonstrating small data
packet transfer from a small payload into remote
maritime locations beyond our phone networks, this
mission is also leading us into an even broader range
of remote communication scenarios to increase the
connectivity of our world.
VESTA will demonstrate:
- Broadcasting vessel traffic information, such as
the delivery of ice-maps to shipping in the polar
regions and;
- two-way communications to support commercial fleet
monitoring by relaying real-time ship engine, emissions
and fuel data to operators as well as provision of
specific meteorological data.
Spaceflight’s SSO-A mission is the largest single
rideshare mission from a U.S.-based launch vehicle to
date. The company has contracted with 34 different
organisations to launch 64 spacecraft on just one
rocket.
The UK’s space sector is going from strength to
strength, employing around 40,000 people and carrying
our world-class science while growing the economy.
Last month (19 November) a contract worth
several hundred million-poundswas signed for
Eutelsat to procure two innovative new
telecommunications satellites from Airbus, with much of
the work taking place in the UK, at manufacturing sites
in Portsmouth and Stevenage.
This is all supported by the Government’s Industrial
Strategy, with major initiatives such as the National
Satellite Test Facility at Harwell and the development
of the proposed commercial spaceport in Sutherland,
Scotland.
