IET Appleton Lecture 2010 — Sir Sweeting’s Small Satellites — Big Future

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting will deliver his address at the IET Appleton Lecture 2010 — Small Satellites — Big Future, to be held at Savoy Place, London, on January 19. Professor Sir Martin Sweeting OBE B.Sc.Hons., PhD (Surrey), FRS, FREng., FIET Executive Chairman – Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL); and Director – Surrey Space Centre (SSC). The IET is one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries and offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. The IET provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote the positive role of science, engineering and technology in the world.

Sir Sweeting’s address will refer to taking advantage of the very rapid developments in commercial-off-the-shelf technology, largely stimulated by consumer markets, small satellites enable a rapid-response and lower-cost approach to many space applications. Closely tracking ‘Moore’s Law’, the capabilities of these small satellites have, in the last decade, moved from being a curiosity to providing operational solutions for a range of Earth observation, communications and science missions. From humble beginnings in a University research lab in 1979, Surrey has pioneered small satellites and spun-out a successful commercial company. The next challenge is to see whether these techniques proven in Earth orbit can be extended to reducing the cost and increasing the tempo of planetary exploration.

Born in 1951 in London, Sir Martin has pioneered the concept of advanced microsatellites utilizing modern commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices to change the economics of space. After completing BSc & PhD degrees in Electronic Engineering gained at the University of Surrey, in 1985 he formed a spin-off University company (SSTL – Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd) which has designed, built, launched and operates in orbit a total of 32 nano, micro, and mini-satellites. These include the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), the GIOVE-A Galileo navigation satellite for ESA and, most recently, the 5-satellite RapidEye EO constellation.

In 1995, Sir Martin was awarded the OBE in HM Queen’s Birthday Honours and in 2002 was knighted by HM Queen in recognition of his pioneering work in small satellites. In 2006, he was appointed a Distinguished Professor at the University of Surrey, listed as one of the ‘Top 10 Great Britons’ and, most recently, awarded the Royal Institute of Navigation Gold Medal in recognition of the successful GIOVE-A mission for the European Galileo system.

With export sales amounting to over $400M, SSTL is currently building 8 satellites for launch over the next 2 years. Sir Martin is also Director of the Surrey Space Centre, leading a team of 70 faculty and doctoral researchers investigating advanced small satellite concepts and techniques. There is limited availability, to learn more visit.