Small Satellites - Big Future

Since the early 1980s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has pioneered the development of small satellites, commonly named "microsatellites".  SSTL has designed, built and launched over 30 of these microsatellites and, through this work, SSTL is "changing the economics of space"...

For more details, please visit the Appleton Lecture website. 

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting

Born in 1951 in London, Sir Martin has pioneered the concept of advanced microsatellites utilising 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. With export sales amounting to over $400M, SSTL is currently building eight satellites for launch over the next two 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.

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.