MoD plans another step towards enhancing UK space capability
UK MoD technology agency Dstl in early October will demonstrate its ability to use a relocatable ground station to task and receive data from multiple commercial satellites.
This event, to be held in collaboration with Surrey Satellite Technology, will mark the first time since the early 2000s that a UK government ground station communicates with a satellite.
Surrey Satellite Technology will provide control of two low-Earth orbit satellites to the Dstl ground station for tasking validation and verification purposes.
Dstl only acquired its first satellite ground station (pictured) in July 2019 to support future MoD space research activities. Lessons learnt from the October demonstration will be used to enhance Dstl’s satellite operations capability as it looks to lead a growing number of space and ground demonstrator missions in the future, Dstl noted in a 28 September statement.
AVM Harv Smyth, MoD Director Space, said: ‘Dstl and the Space Directorate are working closer than ever before as we take forward an ambitious space R&D programme, and the experiences gained from initiatives such as this help enormously to underpin our space capability planning for the future.’
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