Northumbria University has been
awarded more than £360,000 of funding from the UK Space Agency to develop the
world’s first commercially available laser-based satellite communication
system.
Academics from the University will
work with County Durham company ISOCOM Limited to design, build and test small
satellites, known as ‘CubeSats’, which will orbit the earth, transmitting data 100 times faster than currently possible.
Their aim is to develop an ‘off the
shelf’ product for telecoms providers, as well as global companies such as
SpaceX, Facebook and Google, which could deliver Internet of Things (IoT)
technology, as well as remote sensing, environmental monitoring and disaster
prevention.
It is one of only five
University-led projects from across the UK to be awarded a share of over £8
million of funding through the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation
Programme – the first UK fund dedicated to supporting the space sector’s
development of innovations.
The Laser Optical Communications
for CubeSats project is expected to help achieve the government’s ambition
to increase the UK’s share of the global space market to 10% by 2030 –
estimated to be worth around £400 billion.
It will also position the UK at the
forefront of optical laser communication systems and technology, develop
national capabilities, and allow the UK to take a significant share of this
emerging market.
The project is being led by solar
physicist Dr Eamon Scullion of Northumbria University’s Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering.
Speaking about the project he said:
“We are establishing a new paradigm for space-based communications, with a
marked increase in data transmission rates, transforming CubeSats into critical
space assets.
“This is all about designing a new
system capable of firing laser beams between satellites that are not much
bigger than a shoe box, many thousands of kilometres apart and moving at many
thousands of kilometres per hour around the world – it does not get much cooler
than that.”
The CubeSats will operate in pairs
in a low Earth orbit – around 600 miles (1,000 km) above the surface of the
Earth.
They will be capable of
transmitting data at a rate of one gigabit per second (1 gbps) using free-space
optical communication technology (FSO).
FSO technology uses light to
transmit data and is significantly faster than the low-speed radio frequency
currently used by CubeSats, which has a maximum speed of 1-10 megabits per
second (mbps).
Northumbria University’s Professor Zabih Ghassemlooy heads up Northumbria’s Optical Communications Research Group and is a world leading expert on
laser communications and optical wireless communications. He said: “This is an
exciting project allowing us to demonstrate laser-based wireless communications
between CubeSats.”
Professor Ghassemlooy, along with
Dr Scullion, Dr Robert Wicks and Dr Mojtaba Mansour Abadi, make up the Northumbria University research team
involved in the project.
They will work alongside
Peterlee-based ISOCOM Limited,
which specialises in the design, manufacture, and testing of high-quality
optoelectronic and microelectronic components for space and aerospace including
detectors, emitters, high power VCSEL lasers and optical switching products.
ISOCOM CEO and Managing Director
Thomas Bayat said: “We are delighted to be
collaborating with Northumbria University on this UKSA laser technology project.”
The project will open a new window
of opportunity for developing UK small and medium size businesses in the
growing space sector and enable a step-change in the current approach to
communications constellations and space science missions.
It will also play a key role in
meeting the global demand for high-speed internet services and establishing optical communications as a
part of the space industry in the UK.
Science
Minister Amanda Solloway said: “We want the UK to be a world leader in space
technology which is why we are supporting our most ambitious innovators who are
developing first of a kind technologies to help solve some of our greatest
challenges.
“From
slashing carbon emissions to protecting the UK’s critical services from harmful
cyber-attacks, today’s funding will unshackle our most entrepreneurial space
scientists so that they can transfer their revolutionary ideas into world class
products and services, while helping to boost the UK economy.”
Dr
Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Space
technologies have become deeply embedded in, and critical to, almost every
aspect of our daily lives. With rapid technological innovation, space offers a
broad and growing range of opportunities to support economic activity and
protect the environment.
“From
the satellites connecting our calls to the ones that tell us when to expect
rain when we step outside, space technologies are fundamental to our day-to-day
lives.
“Our
space sector is constantly advancing and welcoming new ideas, and through this
funding we are championing the best of this British innovation.”
The
UK space sector is a huge economic success story, growing by over 60% since
2010. The industry already supports £300 billion of UK economic activity
through the use of satellite services and is expected to grow further as this
new Government support unlocks commercial opportunities.
The
UK also remains a leading member of the European Space Agency, which is
independent of the EU. ESA membership allows the UK to cooperate in
world-leading science on a global scale, enabling UK scientists and researchers
access to a range of international R&D programmes.
