Memorandum submitted by the Small Satellites
Group (UKSA 23)
The Small Satellites Group represents a consortium
of international-class university departments and industry, working
in partnership to advance Space Technology and Earth Observation
research, working on small satellite platforms. The group includes
the Surrey Space Centre, the National Centre for Earth Observation
(Reading), the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL) and the
Centre for Space, Atmospheric and Ocean Science (Bath). We welcome
the enquiry by the Science and Technology Select Committee and
submit the following evidence.
The group is fully supportive of a cross-government
agency empowered to develop a powerful strategic vision, co-ordinate
activities, and act as the principal funding mechanism for Space
R&D in the UK. The consolidation of funding, centralisation
of policy development and leadership the Agency can provide is
vital if the UK is to maximise the growth opportunities identified
for the UK Space sector (Chief Economist, BIS report for Space
IGS, 2010).
Our responses to the questions raised by the
committee are:
1. We feel it is extremely important to
have one body which can deal with space-related issues in the
UK, and so the creation of UK Space Agency (UKSA), and the work
carried out to date by the Space IGT, are very positive developments.
One national institution must be able to oversee the space activities
in the UK, reach out to the space community and its users, support
the UK on ESA and other international programmes, and provide
guidance on space policies in a more effective way if the UK is
to maximise its return on investments. Other European countries
have long benefitted from a national programme of space technology
development in addition to supporting ESA. The UK should follow
this model through the support of space engineering and technology
and scientific research on applications of that technology in
Universities and industry. There is a particular UK opportunity
to fly space technology and science demonstrators on a regular
basis, so that the UK can maintain its reputation for innovation
in space, particularly where this involves low-cost small satellite
missions, and this needs to be part of the UKSA's programme.
Our knowledge of the progress in developing
the UKSA has been derived from individuals who are working directly
with the Agency. We are aware that staffing resource is an issue
for the UKSA, but we feel that direct communication from Agency
staff to the wider academic and industrial community will allow
all interested parties to be kept properly informed of developments
and increase transparency. We welcome those areas such as Earth
observation where this interaction is already most effective.
This greater communication needs to happen in all areas of UKSA
activity before the formal establishment of the UKSA, and preferably
before the Government's spending review announcements in October
2010. We support members of the nascent UKSA, but also strongly
support seconding key members from industry and academia into
the UKSA in an advisory capacity to ensure that it is properly
staffed to carry out all its tasks.
2. UKSA staff have liaised well with staff
from the National Centre of Earth Observation to co-ordinate EO
activities to ensure maximum return from national investments.
For instance, NCEO staff are heavily involved in setting up the
Visualisation Centre at ISIC. The UKSA has sponsored and been
involved in a number of meetings which have brought together Universities,
SMEs and larger space industries to establish and coordinate the
UK's space expertise, for example the recent FP7 information day.
Given resource limitations the UK must continue to play to its
strengths, and these coordination activities are vital to maintain
effective use of resources. The small satellites group members
would be very pleased to contribute to these coordination activities
for UKSA, and we certainly see this as a fundamental aspect of
our potential "ISIC Surrey" Innovation Centre. This
centre, if we gain funding, will act as a natural extension "spoke"
to the ISIC Harwell hub, and will incorporate academic and industrial
expertise, as well as SMEs and new start ups, across the South
East region.
3. It is too early to state whether UKSA
will act effectively as a catalyst for co-ordinated activities
across the sector relating to Space Policy. BNSC historically
had a low profile with little visible proactivity and support
for growing the UK space industry. It is hoped that UKSA will
be able to drive space developments in the UK and the UK's interests
internationally more efficiently, and engage more effectively
with the space community (academia and industry). It is widely
recognised that BNSC was not set up as a "space agency"
in the sense that is internationally recognised. UKSA must act
as a true space agency as defined in its remit. There is a danger
that resource limitations might mean that it is resourced like
BNSC, so becoming a second BNSC, with space policy and support
once again becoming diluted amongst other Government agencies.
This would waste this "once in a generation" opportunity
to get UK Space right and may fail to meet the expectation of
our international partners who naturally anticipate an agency
that can act as one.
4. The group would like to present a few
key priorities we feel the UK Space Agency should be considering
in the months to come, and as part of the spending review:
(a) Ensure that there are opportunities for disparate
groups to engage with the UKSA, allowing scientists and technologists,
academia and both supplier and user industry to work in partnership
to deliver cutting edge research and technologies. One mechanism
we would strongly support is a dedicated Space KTN, which could
potentially be housed and managed within the proposed "ISIC
Surrey" Innovation Centre.
(b) It is important that the programmes of the
UKSA are led by applications to which the space technologies can
be put, engaging widely with the UK economic base, including but
not limited to the UK space industry. Mechanisms for support must
be flexible to allow the UK to respond with agility to national
needs and international opportunities.
(c) Ensure the Earth Observation community has
access to long term, continuous data streams that are calibrated
and validated, and to provide a capability to allow these data
to be reprocessed as understanding and calibration improve. This
will enable the academic community to remain at the forefront
of Earth Observation research worldwide, and more importantly
to offer the first real opportunity for the UK to develop an Earth
Observation service industry. The UK has a world lead in many
aspects of combining data and models in environmental science,
and these skills need to be enhanced and applied to more areas
of application beyond weather forecasting to allow best use to
be made of the observations in industry and academia.
(d) Promote training across STEM disciplines
to guarantee the UK has a suitably qualified workforce to service
the anticipated demand in the Space sector in the UK and internationally.
The UK has great potential to train the next generation of space
scientists and engineers internationally if the UKSA is set up
correctly. For instance, new techniques such as data assimilation
are transforming Earth observation but need a new generation of
scientists who can deploy the techniques effectively. Cubesat
technnologies are also important for training the next generation
of space technologists, and could dramatically change the costs
of access to space if there are a sufficient number of trained
engineers in this technology. For example, low-cost launchers,
de-orbiting devices and debris mitigation are all areas of research
being promoted at Surrey Space Centre, through the use of cubesat
technology. The UKSA should ensure that the UK has state-of-the-art
facilities that can capture the imagination of young people and
encourage them into STEM subjects.
(e) The UK has already demonstrated that its
unique expertise and experience in small satellites can have a
significant economic impact, both in the UK and globally, by combining
this expertise with Earth Observation. The Disaster Monitoring
Constellation (DMC) has been a tremendous success, both commercially
and from a humanitarian perspective, and has additionally fostered
links between the UK and emerging space nations (eg Nigeria).
Similarly, RapidEye has demonstrated how a fully commercial constellation,
with unique capabilities, can be put together, launched and operated
at a substantially lower cost than hitherto possible. New developments
in active imaging (such as Synthetic Aperture Radar), spectrometry
and radiometry, GPS reflectometry and radar altimetry, mean that
the capability of such missions will, with adequate R&D investment,
soon open up whole new areas of commercial enterprise and exploitation.
Earth Observation and small satellites are two of the UK's key
strengths in space—and this lead should be maintained.
(f) UKSA must make sure that there is support
for space systems engineering and technology research to match
the ambition of the UK, and not assume that this is covered by
the current level of support for space science. Innovation in
space systems is not just limited to innovations in space instrumentation,
laudable though that is. In the past, BNSC investment in technology
programmes such as MOSAIC, led to the eventual development of
two new UK companies, DMCii and RAL Space Optics Company, and
UKSA should look to implement a similar programme in future.
5. The pressures on government spending
have inevitably impacted the expectations to date of the UK Space
Agency. UKSA is not yet adequately funded. Substantial investment
is required if the UK is to take advantage of the paradigm shift
in Earth Observation and data services afforded by long term global
monitoring from both large ESA and other international funded
projects and more agile and economical missions that are offered
through the development of small satellite technologies. We as
a group are pioneering research of low cost upstream services,
as well as maximising the exploitation and impact of downstream
data services and applications. We are looking to transfer upstream
and downstream technologies and services into other business sectors,
offering an almost infinite opportunity to plough newly generated
money back into the UK economy. Although times are hard, "space"
has demonstrated a substantial return on investment and indeed
growth of this and related "high tech" industries is
one of the very few ways the UK can recover its economic position
in the global market. The UK Government must take the Space Special
Interest Group's findings into account, and appreciate that providing
substantial funding to the UK space industries and academic institutions,
through UKSA, is an essential investment. As yet we do not see
evidence of any substantial "new money" coming into
the space industry from Government, despite 12 months of political
activity in this area.
Small Satellites Group
August 2010
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