The global ‘space market’ is predicted to be worth $400bn by 2030.     The cost of putting satellites into orbit is expected to fall dramatically over the next decade – so there is likely to be a scramble to monitor the globe.  Britain wants 10% of that market and university scientists are being enlisted to ensure we achieve it.

Scientists at the Universities of Surrey and Reading will work with colleagues at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the new collaboration called Global Satellite Sensing (GLOSS) – a world leading Centre of Excellence to monitor changes to the Earth, its ecosystem and climate.

The aim is to develop ways of using the very latest advances in the new generation of small, lightweight and highly innovative satellites, being developed in the UK to provide new satellite data services for meteorological purposes and use in disaster scenarios, as well as proving a wide range of services to commercial sectors, including energy resource management, urban and environmental monitoring, security and insurance industries.

It involves everything from developing new low cost sensors and designing groups of small satellites (called ‘swarms’) that can work together to in-orbit calibration systems, data assimilation, data processing and visualisation.

Professor Robert Gurney, Director of Space and Earth Observation at the University of Reading, which has the largest research capability in weather and climate science and earth observation of any university in Europe, says,

“British scientists are among the best in the world at using data from satellites to provide vital information about weather and climate. By helping to develop the next generation of satellite technology, this collaboration will help to expand the range of information available to businesses and industry, such as real-time data. Such crucial and affordable information will help to give British businesses the cutting edge, boosting innovation and economic growth.”

We’d all welcome more accurate weather forecasting, of course.  But coming hot on the heels of the NSA/Edward Snowden revelations, we can perhaps be excused for feeling concerned about the levels of surveillance we are likely to experience over the coming years….

Tags: satellites in space