“BARKING Brussels politicians have proved they live on
another planet by pouring millions of pounds into the pointless European space
programme” [1]. One of my favourite recent headlines, and pure disinformation.
EU annual space investment is €204 Million, we pay about £21 Million of it. The
UK also spends £200 Million, 65% to the European Space Agency (ESA), the rest
invested into UK industry and Universities.
Why spend so much on Space? Look at the bottom line! The UK
Space sector is worth £7.5 Billion p.a., employs 27,000 people (7.3% annual
increase), and grew despite the economic crisis [2]. Venture capitalists dream
of such returns. The combined EU/ESA/UK investment of £221 Million is dwarfed
by the turnover of £7.5 Billion, with 1000s of skilled jobs, manufacturing,
spin-outs and tax receipts.
So what has Space got to do with me? Have you ever watched
a TV weather forecast, its sunny so
you go away, and book a hotel with your mobile? You have just used [SKY or] European Satellite
Broadcasting (SatCom), to get a weather forecast from Europe's Meteosat Earth
Observation weather satellite (EO), made your journey using Satellite
Navigation (SatNav), and maybe had your phone call relayed by Europe's Artemis
communications satellite.
Space derived services are so pervasive we use them daily.
SatCom is the biggest sector, employing 1000's and supporting a host of
creative industries. Space is expanding into new areas. Scotland's NHS24 uses
SatCom to broadcast health advice to patients homes. SatNav is used to optimise
the deployment of ambulances on roads, and tells us when the bus will arrive.
EO is used for surveying, crop management and finding water and minerals.
Every wondered why your old SatNav dumped you in a field?
GPS is not as accurate as we think. The USA has another SatNav system, the Wide
Area Augmentation System, broadcasting 'corrections'
to GPS, but only over North America.
Thankfully the ESA/EU equivalent, EGNOS, began broadcasting similar
'corrections' in 2009. All major SatNav Systems (GPS, Russian GLONASS, Europe's
GALILEO, China's COMPASS, India and Japan's SBAS systems) will soon use the
same transmission standard, providing a truly world wide navigation system.
DeMontfort & Leicester Universities work closely with
industry, developing Space derived products: e.g. SatNav location of people
with dementia, and EO + SatNav managing road networks to reduce congestion and
improve air quality. Thanks to a new EU project led by the City Council we now
network with similar teams (universities, industry and government) across
Europe, promoting the development, deployment and manufacture of products and
services that use Space data.
The Space economy is growing fast and the East Midlands is
at the heart of that growth.
Eric Goodyer is a reader in Instrumentation at DeMontfort
University, and works with local business to develop new products and services.
1. Express Newspapers 2010
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