New UK microsatellites to revolutionise disaster monitoring

A new wave of UK-built microsatellites is set to improve the way the world monitors and manages natural and man-made disasters.

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is the first satellite cluster dedicated to monitoring disasters from space and will provide more frequent and reliable images to relief agencies. Three 100 kg satellites are due to be launched on September 26, joining AlSAT-1, the first DMC satellite launched for Algeria last November.
The satellites have been developed by UK firm Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). When the full constellation is in place, it will be able to provide daily imaging of anywhere in the world, enabling frequent return passes over the same site for rapid updates or to obtain information if cloud cover has hampered first attempts. This cannot be achieved by a single satellite, and the expensive, large individual satellites currently in orbit can take several days to revisit a certain area.
The DMC has been supported by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) MicroSatellite Applications in Collaboration (MOSAIC) programme, which has given financial assistance to small satellite programmes. Science Minister Lord Sainsbury, who launched the scheme, said today:
"DMC will be an important tool to help limit the effects of both man-made and natural disasters worldwide. By providing near real-time images, it will inform and improve relief efforts, enabling aid agencies to target critical assistance to those in need.
The Government seeks to support UK excellence in science and engineering. This project is an example of the outstanding results that can be achieved. We should be proud of the initiative and world-class capabilities that Surrey Satellite Technology Limited has shown in driving the development of this project.", ,SSTL has brought together five international partners - Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and the UK - to make the DMC possible. BNSC, through MOSAIC, has committed £4.5 million to the UK-DMC satellite.
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, SSTL's CEO, said:
"This is a novel partnership whereby a constellation of satellites is being built in the UK in collaboration with the individual owners from different nations. SSTL would like to thank the BNSC for the funding of one of these satellites, the UK-DMC, which has acted as a catalyst to bring onboard the other partners.
Looking to the future, the DMC represents a modern approach to space missions and paves the way for other constellations of small satellites for a range of different applications."
AlSAT-1, the first satellite in the constellation was launched for Algeria in November 2002 and is now fully operational, returning excellent images from orbit. The three satellites for Nigeria, Turkey and the UK will be launched in September from Plesetsk in Northern Russia, and in 2005 the final DMC satellite will be launched for China.
Each microsatellite is independently owned and operated, but the whole constellation is designed to be used as a single co-ordinated instrument as and when required.
,NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The next three DMC satellites will be launched at 07:09 BST from Plesetsk in Northern Russia on September 26. A UK media event will be held at SSTL in Guildford. For more details or to confirm your attendance please contact Audrey Nice at SSTL on [phone]
2. Media access to a live link of the launch is available from World Wide Pictures. Please contact Chris Courtenay Taylor on [phone] or e-mail: [e-mail]
3. SSTL will present two seminars on the DMC at the BNSC hosted exhibition stand during the GEO Solutions 2003 event, Earls Court from September 16 to 18. For more details on the seminars please contact Ian Downey at BNSC on [phone]
4. Each satellite will provide 32-metre multispectral Earth observation imaging, covering 600 x 600km area anywhere on the Earth's surface. The images cover around 10 times more area than images currently available from other civilian Earth observation satellites. Also unique is the ability to re-image anywhere on the Earth's surface within 24-hours - something not achievable by any other satellite currently in-orbit. These powerful resources place the DMC in a distinctive position to provide Earth observation images to the international disaster relief community.
5. The £15 million MOSAIC programme was launched in December 1999 to help transfer the UK's world-leading expertise in small satellites from the academic community to scientific and commercial markets. The programme has awarded co-funding to support three small satellite projects from British consortiums - DMC, Topsat and Gemini.
6. SSTL specialises in the design, manufacture and operation of high-performance yet low-cost small satellites provided on rapid timescales to meet both civil and military Earth observation, communications and space science applications. During 22 years SSTL have launched 20 small satellite missions into low Earth orbit for international customers, pioneering use of 'commercial-of-the-shelf' (COTS) technologies and resulting in an experience and heritage of missions and in-orbit operations unmatched by any other professional satellite manufacturer.
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