2023

A YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS

In February, our 32m antenna GHY-6 went to the Big Apple (!) appearing on-screen in Times Square as Intuitive Machines made its Nasdaq debut. GHY-6 is set to provide support for the company’s IM-1 lunar mission which has a launch window commencing in the new year.

In this month, we were also featured in BBC Science Focus magazine. The feature article offered an overview of the site’s history and resurrection, and dove into a diverse range of topics, from our contribution to the UK Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) to our support of the Artemis missions’ CubeSats.

To top it off, February also saw the expansion of our mission operations team, helping to support 24/7 operations and the increased volume of lunar and deep space services we’re providing. 

Breaking news! – we announced at the Satellite Show in Washington DC that we were planning to acquire the two COMSAT teleports in the United States. As part of our global expansion initiative, the Southbury and Santa Paula teleports are ideally positioned to provide Atlantic, Americas and Pacific coverage for GEO, lunar and deep space operations. 

Also in this month, the latest “size & health” figures from the UK Space Agency were released, demonstrating that the UK’s space industry had grown by £1 billion in one year. The report showed that 1,772 jobs had been created, with over 48,000 people employed in the sector and over 26,000 people in jobs across the wider supply chain. Great news for the country as a whole and a trend we’re proudly contributing to, from both our Cornwall HQ and Farnborough office. 

Goonhilly was the primary ground station supporting ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 from its launch in December 2022, through its extended journey to rendezvous with the Moon, and up to the landing attempt on the 25th of April.

Whilst the mission ultimately crashed on the lunar surface due to a software bug in the landing radar altimeter, Goonhilly provided successful TT&C operations as the primary tracking station throughout the mission including its entire descent phase. The operational parameters of the tense final moments were captured in full detail by our systems and these provided ispace engineers with the data needed to analyse and determine the reasons for the landing anomaly.

We look forward to working with ispace again in 2024 for their follow-on missions.

In May we were proud to be honoured by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. The RCPS was founded in Falmouth, Cornwall, in 1833 to recognise and encourage excellence in engineering and the arts by the awarding of medals. Winners of the ‘Poly’ medal include Sir Humphry Davy and Alfred Nobel (who of course went on to bequeath a prize fund for his own awards for excellence!) The awarding of medals ceased after the Second World War but was revived again in 2023. We were delighted to be selected as the recipient of this newly minted medal ‘in recognition of outstanding achievements and contribution to Cornwall in the field of Industry’.

This month, we were also featured as ESA’s “Image of the Week” after we “stepped in to save Gaia data”. Following the launch of ESA’s JUICE mission in April, there was insufficient capacity across ESA’s own ESTRACK network of antennas for Gaia to download its stored scientific data. Fortunately, we were able to step in to make sure the precious data about the location of stars in our galaxy made it safely to the hands of scientists on Earth. The event brings into sharp focus how critical our ability to provide communications to distant spacecraft is, as the number of space exploration missions planned internationally continues to grow at pace.

In June, we were pleased to welcome visitors from NASA HQ and Jet Propulsion Lab to provide feedback on our support of the Artemis I mission in the year prior and to check us out for possible future work.

This month, we also welcomed a number of new staff to the Goonhilly team including software engineers and an electrical apprentice. While customers and the public are familiar with some of our more outward-facing team, it certainly takes a village to keep a satellite communications company functioning, thriving, and innovating!

We’re lucky to have a diverse range of skilled people within the company working across engineering, operations, security, site maintenance, business administration, IT, consulting, and so much more! We look forward to continuing on our upward recruitment trajectory and welcoming many more brilliant people into the fold in 2024.

Whilst ongoing support for a number of ESA missions continued, our 24/7 operations team had yet another mission to add to their schedule, with the launch of the Aditya-L1 solar observatory early in the month. We provided essential communications and tracking support right from the mission’s early stages, and continue to provide coverage now, as it settles into its final “halo orbit” around Lagrange Point 1 - an area of gravitational equilibrium between the Earth and Sun.

In October, we were recognised by the UK Space Agency as part of World Space Week, with this year’s theme being “entrepreneurship”. As part of their campaign, the Agency took time to highlight our relationship and the ways we have demonstrated growth, developed international connections and created employment, with their support.

Also in this month, our CEO Ian Jones took to the stage at the Satellite Innovation Conference to discuss the rapid growth required in global ground station capacity to support the projected number of missions heading to space.

Expansion was indeed the theme of the month (and year!) as behind the scenes we prepared ourselves for an important milestone on November the 1st…

In perhaps the biggest news in GES Ltd’s history, on the 1st of November we officially “went global”! After months of intense work behind the scenes, we were pleased to finally announce the completion of our acquisition of two US teleports in the USA - COMSAT Southbury and COMSAT Santa Paula. 

Thanks to the acquisition, customers on both sides of the Atlantic are benefitting from over 120 years of combined satcom experience and enhanced visibility and reach. The acquisition also marks a key step forward in the development of Goonhilly’s lunar and deep space network - a critical asset in facilitating the lunar economy of tomorrow.

Later in the month, we were honoured to receive a Tech SW Award for Space and Aviation. The awards showcase game-changing innovation across the South West England ecosystem, and we were thrilled to celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations across the region. 

For younger space fans there was a development even more important than international acquisitions and award wins, as we made our CBeebies debut! In an episode of Fred & Pete’s Treasure Tales, Deep Space Mission Operator Beth explained how our largest antenna is used to communicate with space missions. (We’re still praying that she doesn’t leave us for a career in the spotlight!)

And here we are - time flies when you’re having fun / growing a busy space and satellite communications business! This month, we’ve already welcomed officials from US DoD and NASA to our COMSAT teleports for discussions on future business, supported the UK Government trade mission to Australia, welcomed John Abbott (new Sat Apps Catapult CEO) to Goonhilly, and celebrated operations with over 20 different deep space craft!

This run-down has been a fantastic reminder of all that’s been achieved across a busy twelve months. Of course, there’s lots more going on behind the scenes and we’re busy preparing and rehearsing for several new missions planned for launch next year. It’s also been a perfect opportunity to reflect on the fact that none of this would have been possible without a range of fantastic partners and supporters, locally and across the world.

So, an enormous thank you to all who have supported us throughout the year and we look forward to achieving more together in 2024 - see you there!