Business Overview

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has established itself as a pioneering business and technological leader in the global satellite sector, with a significant impact on the aerospace and advanced manufacturing landscape in South East England.

Business and Global Leadership

• Origin and Growth SSTL was founded in 1985 as a spin-off company from the University of Surrey, following successful trials in using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components in satellite construction. This pioneering approach earned them the moniker of the "original new space Renegade". The company has steadily grown, with over 70 satellites launched for 22 international customers since its inception.
• Affordable Space Missions SSTL is recognised as the world's leading small satellite company, disrupting the traditional economics of space by delivering operational space missions at a fraction of the usual cost. Their mission is to provide affordable access to space, tailoring solutions to meet customer requirements in terms of price, performance, schedule, and risk.
• Offerings and Reach The company designs, manufactures, and operates high-performance satellites and ground systems for various applications, including Earth observation, science, communications, navigation, and in-orbit servicing. Beyond satellite platforms and subsystems, SSTL offers comprehensive services such as customer training, consultancy, mission studies for entities like ESA and NASA, and managed services for in-orbit satellite operations. This includes day-to-day operations for missions like UK DMC 2 and Exactview-1, and platform operations for constellations like DMC3/Triplesat.
• Ownership and Financial Impact In 2008, the University of Surrey sold its majority share in SSTL to EADS Astrium, now part of Airbus Defence and Space, which wholly owns the company. Over its 40 years, SSTL has generated roughly £1.5 billion in turnover, with over £1 billion attributed to exports, highlighting its significant economic contribution.

Technological Leadership and Innovation

SSTL is at the forefront of space innovation, pushing the boundaries of low-cost small satellite applications and developing cutting-edge technologies.

• Pioneering Small Satellites Their technological leadership began in the late 1970s with Professor Sir Martin Sweeting's experiments using microelectronics to build physically small, fully functional satellites. The launch of UoSAT-1 in 1981 demonstrated the viability of inexpensive, rapidly built, reprogrammable small satellites, outliving its planned life by over five years.
• Key Innovations and ProjectsInternet in Space: SSTL pioneered the use of the Internet Protocol for payload data transfer and command and control in space, demonstrated on satellites like UoSAT-12 and the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC).
• Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC): SSTL led the creation of the world's first disaster monitoring service in space, a multinational network of Earth-observation platforms capable of imaging any location on Earth within 24 hours.
• Galileo Navigation Payloads: SSTL has played a crucial role in Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system, manufacturing and delivering 34 navigation payloads between 2010 and 2020, and a further 12 in 2017. These payloads are considered "the brains" of Galileo's navigation system.
• SSTL-Precision: Currently in development, SSTL-Precision is a very high resolution (VHR) multispectral satellite built by SSTL for ESA’s inCubed programme. It employs a novel sensor architecture and high agility, capable of acquiring Panchromatic (PAN) and Multispectral (MS) imagery with sub-metre resolutions. Designed for constellation deployment, it aims to maximise performance-to-cost ratio by resolving more information from a smaller, low-cost spacecraft.
• Lunar Pathfinder Mission: This exciting project is the UK's first full satellite to orbit the Moon, acting as a communications relay to support the upcoming lunar economy.
• Advanced Manufacturing: SSTL has invested in new satellite platform production processes, utilising automated manufacture and testing to achieve significant cost and schedule savings. They also employ modular cleanroom technology, providing highly controlled ISO Class 5 and 4 environments for the assembly and testing of delicate optical payloads.