Annex A
CASE STUDIES
Past investments by DTI through BNSC in space
research and technology have created a highly skilled workforce
based on world-class science and leading edge technology. These
successes have been translated into innovation of engineering
products and operational business models producing a series of
world leadership roles for UK.
2. A range of success stories include:
— Inmarsat, the London based
satellite operator that leads the world in maritime communications.
— Paradigm, the world leader
in commercial defence satellite communications services.
— SSTL, the world leader in
manufacture of small satellites.
— Avanti, the European leader
in satellite delivered broadband services.
— EADS Astrium, the world leader
in innovative onboard processing technology.
3. Joint investment by industry and UK government
in programmes such as the Advanced Research into Telecommunications
(ARTES) programme managed by ESA where investment is on a co-funded
50/50 basis between public and private sectors has provided a
platform for a number of these successes.
4. For example a £20 million ARTES
investment in electronic beam antenna technology enabled Paradigm
Secure Communications Limited to establish a key differentiator
against US competition to win the £2.5 billion contract for
procurement for Skynet 5. This contract will last for 15 years
and create 1,900 new jobs. Furthermore Paradigm is seen as a leading
example of the PFI model in the satellite communications and military
communications field and thus offers significant scope for export.
5. ARTES investments in processing technology
enabled EADS Astrium to offer a competitive advantage to Inmarsat
during the procurement for the Inmarsat-4. This is one of the
most complex satellites ever built and offers Inmarsat significantly
greater flexibility and revenue earning potential.
6. DTI supported work on Ferrite switches
totalling £528K enabled ComDev to win contracts worth £6
million as a direct from this work, with a potential to win further
business valued at £1 million pa.
7. Through the "Highly Adaptable Satellite"
(HYLAS) being developed by Avanti, the UK is pioneering the delivery
of advanced broadband services in Europe within an entrepreneurial
venture. HYLAS demonstrates the linkage between upstream technology
development and growth in the downstream sector by attracting
substantial City of London equity finance, establishing a UK Fixed
Satellite Services (FSS) operator with high growth potential whilst
demonstrating flexible payload technologies.
8. DTI funding via the MOSAIC (Small Satellite)
programme was pivotal in helping transform micro satellites from
an "idea" to a serious commercial product whilst establishing
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) as a world leader.
DTI funding led to the development of three new families of satellites:
Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) for Earth Observation
and disaster management), TopSat (Earth observation & surveillance)
and Gemini (telecoms). SSTL now has an annual turnover of £25.2
million.
9. In December 2005 ESA launched the first
Galileo satellite GIOVE-A, constructed by a consortium led by
SSTL to an extremely challenging timescale. Its role is to test
and prove a number of technologies developed by ESA for Galileo,
to provide a Galileo signal in space to be used for signal performance
experiments to measure the signal at the earth and to secure the
ITU (International Telecommunications Union) frequency filings
for the Galileo programme. These filings are critical as they
serve as the "right to transmit" for the Galileo radio
signals from space.
10. The QinetiQ T6 High Power Electric Propulsion
(T6 HP-EP) system is being developed to meet the needs of future
large-scale telecommunications satellites such as Alphasat. It
has a wide operating range; its flow rates, magnetic field and
anode current can be varied to ensure optimised thrust performance.
This provides a system with a capability to compensate for anomalous
in-flight performance of interfacing systems.
11. DTI established the National Remote
Sensing Centre (NRSC) in 1980, which developed into Infoterra
Ltd in 2001, and is currently a 100% owned subsidiary of EADS
Astrium, with a turnover of £16 million in 2004. It has become
a leading international provider of geo-information products and
services for managing the development, environment and security
of our changing world.
12. Provision of geographic information
is vital to improving asset management, business processes and
environmental analysis. Many decisions need location information
from flood risk analysis and network planning to humanitarian
aid and defence.
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