Yahoo Finance UK bids to take communications on future moon-orbiting space station
The UK could provide communications between the moon and Earth as plans for a moon-orbiting space station get off to a start.
The UK Space Agency is supporting Guildford-based SSTL, a manufacturer of small satellites, in its bid to be communications supplier for the future space station.
The technology would allow astronauts and rovers on the moon to send data back to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway and Earth.
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The Gateway, a small spaceship orbiting the moon, will be a laboratory, temporary home, and office for astronauts. The spaceship will be about a five-day, 250,000-mile commute from Earth, according to NASA.
It will also serve as a home base for astronauts on future missions to Mars.
“Even before our first trip to Mars, astronauts will use the Gateway to train for life far away from Earth, and we will use it to practice moving a spaceship in different orbits in deep space,” NASA said.
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The next round of funding decisions will be determined by the European Space Agency (ESA), of which the UK is a member, in November.
The UK’s membership of the ESA will not be affected by Brexit, as it is not an EU organisation.
Sue Horne, head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency, said the UK is also bidding to provide refuelling features for the Gateway.
“Europe — hopefully, if we get sufficient subscriptions — will be building the habitation module and the service module,” Horne told the PA news agency.
“In the UK, we would like to do the communications system and the refuelling element but there will be a lot of competition for the refuelling element.”
While the UK has a 50/50 chance of winning the refuelling element, the country a much better chance of getting the communications thanks to its “strong communications industry,” she said.
