{"id":89250,"date":"2018-02-22T06:31:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T06:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=e2773704aaea4e399e1b3d2a241e4705"},"modified":"2018-02-22T06:31:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T06:31:00","slug":"news-story-cornwall-to-host-worlds-first-commercial-deep-space-communications-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=89250","title":{"rendered":"News story: Cornwall to host world\u2019s first commercial deep-space communications station"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Under a new project Goonhilly, which famously beamed images of the moon landings to millions of television viewers, will be upgraded to enable it to provide deep-space tracking and satellite communication services on a commercial basis. It will be the first time the UK has had the capability to communicate directly with deep-space missions.<\/p>\n

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working hard to ensure the UK thrives in the commercial space age as part of the Government\u2019s Industrial Strategy, so it\u2019s fantastic to see the world\u2019s first commercial deep space communications network coming to Cornwall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK Space Agency has played a vital role in supporting this partnership and will continue to work alongside industry, local leaders and international partners to grow the UK\u2019s share of the global space market. We already play a significant role in satellite manufacturing, with one in four of the world\u2019s telecommunications satellites built in the UK, and want to establish the UK as a world-leading destination for space launch. \u201d<\/p>\n

In future, Goonhilly will complement the capability of the European Space Agency (ESA)\u2019s worldwide ground station network, which today comprises seven core stations supporting more than 20 earth, observatory, planetary and exploration spacecraft as well as European launchers.<\/p>\n

Goonhilly LEP<\/a><\/p>\n

The contract is being funded through the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP\u2019s Growth Deal with the UK Government, via ESA, including \u20ac2 million which comes from the UK Space Agency\u2019s investment in ESA. The investment will see ESA working with Goonhilly to upgrade one of its largest antennas, the 32 m-diameter GHY-6 antenna built in 1985, to meet the high-end performance and technology requirements needed by ESA, NASA and private space exploration companies for deep-space communications, including high bit-rate data links.<\/p>\n

Colin Baldwin, Head of Local Growth Strategy at the UK Space Agency, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted that the work the Agency did to support this partnership has come to fruition. We see huge opportunities for the developing space sector in Cornwall and look forward to working with local partners, including Goonhilly Earth Station and the LEP, as their plans develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investment will provide a huge boost to Cornwall\u2019s space ambitions. Once the upgrade work is complete, Goonhilly will have the ability to track and control forthcoming robotic and human missions to the Moon and Mars, making a significant technical and economic contribution to European efforts in global space exploration.<\/p>\n

During the approximately two-year work to upgrade the 32 m-diameter GHY-6 antenna \u2013 which carried the 1985 Live Aid concert around the world shortly after it was built \u2013 qualifying tests will be carried out under ESA\u2019s oversight to include tracking of several of the Agency\u2019s deep-space missions, including the Mars Express spacecraft which has been in orbit around the Red Planet since 2003.<\/p>\n

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Goonhilly antenna. Credit: Goonhilly Earth Station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Goonhilly CEO Ian Jones said: \u201cWe already have a great deal of interest in using the upgraded antenna from our international customer base. This includes space agencies, such as ESA, as well as some of the new private space exploration companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team here at Goonhilly, along with colleagues at the LEP, ESA and the UK Space Agency, have been working incredibly hard to achieve this fantastic outcome. We now look forward to getting on with the upgrade work which will bring a new expansion of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s Local Growth Minister, Jake Berry, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very encouraging to see a Local Enterprise Partnership using Government\u2019s Growth Deal funding to support a rapidly growing sector through public and private sector collaboration. This contract will create skilled new jobs in the local area while assuring Cornwall\u2019s place in history for its contribution to space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An \u00a38.4 million investment in Goonhilly Earth Station, in Cornwall, will help create the world\u2019s first commercial deep-space communications station, capable of tracking future missions to the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89271,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89250\/revisions\/89271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}