Goonhilly upgrade to create commercial deep-space communications station

Under a new project announced by the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Goonhilly’s 32m diameter GHY-6 antenna will be upgraded to provide deep-space tracking of future missions to the Moon and Mars and satellite communication services.

“There will be more than 50 lunar and deep space missions planned over the next decade and it means our region can participate directly in global space programmes,” said Sandra Rothwell, chief executive of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP.

Once upgraded, Goonhilly is expected to add to the capabilities of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s worldwide ground station network, which comprises seven core stations supporting over 20 earth, observatory, planetary and exploration spacecraft as well as European launchers.

The investment will see ESA working with Goonhilly to upgrade GHY-6 to meet the performance and technology requirements needed by ESA, NASA and private space exploration companies for deep-space communications, including high bit-rate data links.