Small satellite manufacturer
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd(SSTL) is to supply satellite platform equipment and services for the KANOPUS Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Earth observation spacecraft.
The multimillion-pound contract was signed with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise - Russian Research and Production Enterprise Pan-Russian Research Institute for Electromechanics (FSUE NPP VNIIEM) and Radioexport of Russia.
The first satellite, KANOPUS-B, will be ready for launch in 2008. It will study the Earth's surface and will support the monitoring of disasters, agricultural planning and the management of water and coastal resources. Under the contract, SSTL will supply FSUE NPP VNIIEM with the platform avionics equipment and software, and support their spacecraft assembly and integration activities in Russia.
SSTL had recent contract awards for two high capability Earth observation satellites - NigeriaSat-2 for Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency and an additional DMC satellite for Spanish company Deimos. Last month ESA awarded SSTL a follow-on contract for the supply of a second navigation satellite, GIOVE-A2. SSTL now has 12 new satellites under construction and test at its facilities in Guilford, England for customers in Europe, North America and Africa.
Earlier this month, SSTL's latest satellite, CFESat, a research satellite for the US Department of Energy Los Alamos National Laboratory, was launched on an EELV from the Kennedy Space Centre.
Poll: Should the UK’s railways be renationalised?
Is there anything fundamentally wrong in running a nationalised industry as a business for profit and then using a share of those profits to offset...