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UK data centre numbers to grow – Goonhilly still only option in Cornwall

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:21:38 GMT

Research reveals anticipated boom in UK data centre construction – but limited colocation options in South-West

UK data centres have been making headlines... again!

According to a BBC article published last week, citing research by construction researchers Barbour ABI , the number of data centres in the UK is set to jump by almost 100 by 2030, with the government emphasising their importance to the country’s economic future.

Data centres represent critical infrastructure and are essential to meet the growing demand for digital services, as organisations of all sizes increasingly rely on the processing and storage of vast amounts of data.

However, these planned facilities are highly concentrated around London and neighbouring counties, with just one new facility planned South-West of Bristol.

Cornwall’s data centre – not just for the space sector!

Our Goonhilly Earth Station HQ is home to Cornwall’s only data centre, the only facility of its kind within 140km.

We provide scalable and reliable colocation solutions for organisations who rely on the storage, processing, and distribution of data – regardless of whether or not they’re in the space sector!

Customers may be seeking off-premises server locations that offer an added layer of security and reliability, or a geo-diverse location to complement their existing infrastructure. Our scalable options offer something for everyone.

Why choose Goonhilly’s data centre?

While businesses in the South-West can take advantage of reduced latency and convenient access to their IT infrastructure, ALL customers benefit from the data centre’s carefully-optimised design and infrastructure:

1. High security

Our data centre is self-contained within our wider secure site.

Sitewide features include:

- Perimeter fencing

- 24/7/365 security personnel

- RFID access

- 70+ CCTV cameras

- ISO27001 accreditation

- Cyber Essentials Plus certification

The data centre itself requires enhanced RFID clearance and has additional surveillance features.

2. State-of-the-art infrastructure

Our systems are expertly designed to keep customers connected...

Power redundancy:

- Non-interruptible redundant power with UPS-protected circuits and back-up generators

- Site power distribution via HV cross-strapped ring

- 0% mains power failure to date

Advanced environmental treatment:

- CRAC units for cooling and humidity monitoring

- VESDA fire detection system

- Clean agent gas fire suppression system

3. Excellent connectivity

We offer diverse and high-speed connectivity from the site:

- Diverse, low latency optical fibre links to London, supporting a range of bandwidth options

- Onward access to worldwide POPs

Want to discover how Goonhilly's data centre can keep you connected and protected?

Reflecting on Goonhilly Summer School

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:03:27 GMT

In 2022, Holly Holmes, a then-Year-10 student from Cornwall, attended a Summer School event here at Goonhilly. Now in Year 12, Holly has kindly taken the time to update us on the impact that her time with us has had on her studies, confidence levels, and plans for the future.

Thank you Holly for sharing your experiences in this brilliant blog post! We’re thrilled to hear that the experience meant so much to you!

My name is Holly Holmes and I attended the Goonhilly Summer School in 2022 when I was in Year 10.

The Summer School was an absolutely amazing experience which not only educated me but filled me with ambition as to what to go on to do after I left school. I always knew I wanted to pursue STEM but the Summer School really inspired me and made me confident in my decision to choose Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A-level which I really enjoy.

I am now in Year 12 and aspire to study Astrophysics at university and aim for a career in the space communications sector, I really value the inspiration the Summer School has given me when looking at universities as well as the many skills it has helped me to develop.

I was quite shy in Year 10 and the Goonhilly Summer School helped me to really develop my confidence not only socially, but also in myself and my skills. I learnt all about satellite communications as well as many other jobs at Goonhilly and made lifelong friends.

The Summer School developed my research and presentation skills as well as giving me the opportunity to showcase what I had learned at the end of the week through my collaborative presentation. My group’s presentation title was “Going to Mars and Beyond” and I really enjoyed collaborating with my team and using the knowledge I had gained to help me with my research. We worked together on assigning topics and designing the presentation, and then preparing to deliver it as a team to an audience. This was especially rewarding and felt like a testament to everyone’s hard work throughout the week.

One of the most exciting parts was having a tour of the inside of the GHY-6 deep space antenna, which gave a brilliant insight into the day-to-day life of a Deep Space Mission Operator and what went into receiving signals from space. Learning about the history of the site and how it came to be what it is now was fantastic, as was being educated on different areas of space communications and what career opportunities there are in the sector.

Overall, the amazing team at Goonhilly truly made the experience one that I will value for the rest of my life!

2023: A Year in Highlights

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 08:31:58 GMT

2023

A YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS

TO DO : Change banner image above, edit copy in Google Doc + transfer to webpage (cut words if needed for design consistency), sort spacing then also sort design out in tablet and mobile mode, sort SEO and backend bits incl page description etc., edit overarching blog page layout in sitemodify

A FOREWORD FROM OUR CEO:

"It’s been a bumper year of growth at Goonhilly. We wanted to thank you for your support and share some of the highlights of 2023 as we look forward to a prosperous 2024. Goonhilly has been at the heart of some of the most exciting missions of the year. We have supported ispace and ISRO lunar missions, the UK’s first space launch, and an ISRO mission to study the Sun at Lagrange Point 1. That’s all in addition to supporting numerous ESA missions and delivering the secure satcom services that our 'near-space' customers know and trust.

We also completed our acquisition of COMSAT in the USA and we’re now well on our way to having global coverage of both GEO and lunar orbits.

It has been perhaps our most exciting year to date, so grab your mince pie and mulled wine, and join us as we celebrate all things Goonhilly in 2023!"

JANUARY

Whilst Virgin Orbit made headlines with its historic launch from Spaceport Cornwall, Goonhilly was busy in the background making sure the data from the launch was successfully received.

We commissioned and deployed two tracking antennas, one positioned at the end of the Spaceport runway and another close to the drop zone in Cork, Ireland. Both antennas were connected to our Goonhilly-built mobile ground station located at the Spaceport.

The system performed flawlessly, providing radar-based tracking during the take off, positioning, and launch phases. We were also ready to track the payloads in space, however, the unfortunate failure of the second stage rocket meant that the mission didn’t reach orbit. Despite this failure of the rocket, the Goonhilly solution has proved our capability as a ground tracking system supplier and operator and we are seeing significant demand for this service for future launches.

JANUARY

Whilst Virgin Orbit made headlines with its historic launch from Spaceport Cornwall, Goonhilly was busy in the background making sure the data from the launch was successfully received.

We commissioned and deployed two tracking antennas, one positioned at the end of the Spaceport runway and another close to the rocket's "drop zone" in Cork, Ireland. Both antennas were connected to our mobile command centre located at the Spaceport.

The system performed flawlessly, providing radar-based tracking during the take off, positioning and launch phases. We were also ready to track the payloads in space, however, the unfortunate failure of the second stage rocket meant that the mission didn’t reach orbit.

Despite this failure of the rocket, the Goonhilly solution has proved our capability as a ground tracking system supplier and operator and we are seeing significant demand for this service for future launches.

FEBRUARY

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 o perations team, helping to support 24/7 operations and the increased volume of lunar and deep space services we’re providing.

FEBRUARY

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.

FEBRUARY

New Paragraph

MARCH

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.

MARCH

Also in this month, the latest “Size & Health” figures were released by the UK Space Agency, demonstrating th at 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.

APRIL

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.

APRIL

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

MAY

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.

MAY

JUNE

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.

JUNE

JULY

July saw the launch of Chandrayaan-3, a lunar mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO. Working with partners at ESA, we supported communications with the craft while it made its way to the Moon (and following its eventual successful landing - at risk of spoiling the news for August!)

In this month we welcomed three summer interns and saw the return of our annual Summer School . The week-long event brought 23 bright 14-17 year-olds to our Goonhilly site to learn about satellite communications and careers in the space industry. It featured a mix of lectures, demos, tours, and team project work, as well as guest sessions from partners including Spaceport Cornwall, Avanti, and Goonhilly Heritage Society. As always, the “making an asteroid” dry-ice demonstration (pictured) proved a firm crowd favourite!

JULY

In this month we welcomed three summer interns and saw the return of our annual Summer School . The week-long event brought 23 bright 14-17 year-olds to our Goonhilly site to learn about satellite communications and careers in the space industry. It featured a mixture of lectures, demos, tours, and team project work, as well as guest sessions from partners including Spaceport Cornwall, Avanti, and Goonhilly Heritage Society. As always, the “making an asteroid” dry-ice demonstration (pictured) proved a firm crowd favourite!

AUGUST

Touchdown Chandrayaan-3! (We gave it away in July, really!) In August, we were thrilled to provide comms support to the Indian “Moon-craft”. Moments after it touched down on the lunar surface the very first images were relayed via Goonhilly. This marked a first for Goonhilly and a momentous occasion for India as they became the fourth nation to make a “soft landing” on the Moon and the first to land near the lunar South Pole.

Sharing in the global excitement and proud to be contributing to international efforts to support the mission, we hosted Poonam Joshi of ABP Live who broadcasted live from our Operational Control Area to millions watching National Geographic India on Disney Plus!

AUGUST

Sharing in the global excitement and proud to be contributin g to international efforts to support the mission, we hosted Poonam Joshi of ABP Live who broadcasted live from our Operational Control Area to millions watching National Geographic India on Disney Plus!

SEPTEMBER

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.

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

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…

OCTOBER

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…

NOVEMBER

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!)

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

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!

DECEMBER

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!

International Women's Day 2023

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 08:47:29 GMT

In honour of International Women’s Day 2023, our Marketing and Business Analysis Intern, Isobel, met with Systems Engineer, Roisin, and Project Manager, Tanya, to discuss their routes into the space industry, what they love about their jobs, and what advice they’d give to young professionals starting their STEM journeys...

Can you tell me about your background and what your current role is at Goonhilly?

Roisin : My current job title is Systems Engineer. I’ve been here for about three and a half years and joined after doing a master’s in Control Engineering at Sheffield. Before that I worked as a Scientific Engineer in medical device regulation back in Ireland, having completed my undergraduate in Physics. So, I worked in medical regulation for a little while and decided that I wanted to transition into the space industry, did my master’s and then, fortunately, was hired by Goonhilly at the end of 2019.

Tanya : I’m a Project Manager here at Goonhilly – although I always like to point out that, with it being a small company, being a project manager involves quite a lot of different things in my case. A lot of my working day is spent writing proposals and managing bids, so looking after projects from their initial ideas and inceptions, then finding funding opportunities and seeing them right through to delivery.

My background is a bit of a wavy line, but I’ve worked at Goonhilly since the middle of 2019. Before working here, I was running my own company, which was also in the space sector, doing training, and before that I spent most of my time working in universities or government agencies, supporting business growth and encouraging businesses and universities to work together.

Do you have any recommendations for young people looking to pursue careers in STEM? Is there a particular pathway that makes pursuing a career in the space industry easier?

Roisin : This is something that Tanya and I have discussed before – the long, windy path into the space industry. I think for some people, if they know what they want to do, they’ll just go ahead and do it - and that’s great - but I’d remind young people that you can definitely get into STEM the long way.

Tanya : I think that there are now a wider number of opportunities and ways to get into STEM. I have the benefit of more hindsight than you two, so thinking back to when I was starting my career – I finished university at the end of the 1990s – a career path into STEM would probably have been school, university, job, then maybe a graduate training programme. I think that now there are more opportunities and more work – for example, the apprenticeship route is growing. In the last few years, apprenticeships specific to the space industry have come online, but engineering apprenticeships are definitely a great route in for people considering a career in STEM more generally.

It’s also important to think about transferrable skills. I work in the space industry and don’t have qualifications in engineering or physics, but I do have a biological sciences background and I’ve found that there are many key skills that are applicable in both fields.

There are also all the broader and supporting functions that are needed in STEM. An interest and background in HR, management, marketing, arts, or finance could all provide job opportunities and careers in the sector. There’s no one way in, there are lots of ways in!

Do you have any specific advice for young women who are hoping to get into the space industry?

Roisin : I would say that if you’re interested in the industry, just keep trying and stick with it. When I was trying to move careers out of medical science and into space, I researched the space sector and really thought about what would make me useful to the industry.

Tanya : I think going through education to try and get as much experience as you can is important. There are internship and work experience programmes or placement years that can be really useful in helping you understand what it’s like to work in the space industry… It could be that one of these programmes strengthens your passion for the sector or, alternatively, you might realise that it’s not for you after all, and that you want to do something different. So, I think getting experience makes you useful to future employers because they can see you’ve made the effort to explore the roles available in the industry and are definitely interested in this field. Ultimately, finding out what you don’t want to do is just as important as finding out what you do want to do.

How can we encourage more women to pursue senior leadership/management roles or careers in STEM?

Tanya : I think we need to have role models and normalise women in STEM. Providing encouragement throughout education and promoting different ways to access STEM careers, as we’ve talked about, via apprenticeships or university/graduate routes is essential.

I think, in terms of leadership and management, we should promote and support part-time and flexible working as women (and men too!) progress through their careers. There are lots of women who are looking to get back into careers and find stepping stones i f they’ve had a break for whatever reason and part-time work is really, really hard to find, particularly when searching for good jobs that people are skilled and qualified to do. That’s something that will definitely help extend women’s careers in STEM and help bring skilled and talented women back into the workforce.

Roisin : Yes, I completely agree with everything Tanya has said. Flexible working later on in people’s careers is really important and can encourage people to extend their careers in the industry and, of course, we need representation at the top and in policy, also.

Finally, what has been your best day working in the space industry?

Tanya : I think for me it’s not a particular day. As I mentioned earlier, I set up and delivered some training and I’ve subsequently met people who participated in these training courses and are now using what they learned with me in their current jobs - they’re still in the sector and still learning. It’s a great feeling knowing that you’ve done something helpful and that people are using the training you provided to build their own careers.

Roisin : For me, I got to present the GHY-6 upgrade to a number of people at ESA’s TTC (Tracking, Telemetry and Control) Conference in Noordwijk, at the end of last year, so that was quite a highlight for me. It was pretty cool!

60 years ago today, on 11th July 1962, Goonhilly made world history.

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:16:01 GMT

Today marks the 60 ^th anniversary of the first ever live transmission of TV signals between two continents via an artificial satellite

On 11 ^th July 1962 engineers at Goonhilly earth station, in Cornwall, UK, beamed TV signals from the newly built satellite communications antenna, Arthur, up into the sky to a large beachball sized satellite, called Telstar, which was speeding west to east approximately 592 miles overhead. Telstar then retransmitted the live video signals to a ground station in the USA - thus ushering in the birth of a revolution in global telecommunications.

An account of the events as they unfolded appeared in the national news:

" During the day of 11 July the sense of polarization of the Goonhilly aerial was reversed and in the evening, on pass 15, excellent pictures were received at Goonhilly from Andover.

During the 16th pass a live television transmission (the first live intercontinental television transmission by an articial satellite) was made from Goonhilly to Andover.

This transmission comprised still captions and test cards, followed by live pictures from British Broadcasting Corporation (B.B.C.) cameras, showing scenes in the control room at Goonhilly, with a commentary from Mr. Raymond Baxter of the B.B.C. and a talk by Capt. C. F. Booth, Deputy Engineer-in-Chief of the British Post Office.

The pictures and accompanying sound received at Andover were reported to be of excellent quality and were broadcast as received throughout the U.S.A. "

Over the next few days the engineers at Goonhilly achieved several other firsts:

During the 34th pass, on the night 14-15 July, the first 'Fax' (facsimile or photo-telegraph picture) was transmitted, showing the TELSTAR satellite being mounted on the Thor-Delta launch vehicle.

During the 60th and 61st passes, on the night of 16-17 July, the first transmissions of colour television signals by a satellite were sent from Goonhilly.

The signals, which were on 525-line, 60 frames/second National Television System Committee (N.T.S.C.) standards, comprised captions, test cards and still pictures used to assess colour quality. The transmissions, which were made initially from Goonhilly to the TELSTAR satellite and back to Goonhilly, were also received at Andover. Andover reported: "colour, good; picture quality, excellent."

During the 125th pass, on the 23 July, Goonhilly broadcast European TV to the USA.

The European Broadcasting Union television program, 18-minutes in duration, comprising scenes from many European countries, was received satisfactorily at Andover and broadcast throughout the United States. The picture monitors at Goonhilly showed no perceptible difference in quality between the incoming pictures from the Eurovision link and those transmitted by TELSTAR and received back at Goonhilly.

Onwards 60 years

Fast forward 60 years and Goonhilly is the site of another historic world first – the creation of the first privately owned deep space communications antenna.

After a change of ownership, Goonhilly earth station became Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, and the team appointed by CEO Ian Jones began the mammoth task of converting yet another of Goonhilly’s large antennas, Merlin, into a deep space communications antenna .

Goonhilly Team Prepare Summer School Weather Satellite Project

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:01:35 GMT

The above image, and those below, were acquired from NOAA 18 (on 137.9125 MHz), and NOAA 19 (on 137.100 MHz) during daytime passes here at Goonhilly.

In preparation for our annual Summer School programme , Goonhilly’s Deep Space Network Operators have been busy preparing a project that will enable students to receive images from NOAA weather satellites.

During the practical demonstration, students will be able to discover what the weather is currently doing across the North Atlantic and Western Europe. By repeating the receiving process several times, as the satellites pass over, the students will be able to track the weather over time, and predict how the weather here in Cornwall will change.

In addition to equipping students with the theoretical and practical skills to receive real-time satellite transmissions for themselves, the project will also highlight the diverse ways in which we rely on Low Earth Orbit satellites in our everyday lives.

Other projects and lessons planned for the attendees of the week-long programme will help them to learn about the different methods, materials, and techniques that make Goonhilly’s world-leading satellite communications work a reality.

Here at Goonhilly, we believe in the value of a hands-on approach to complement theoretical learning. By preparing this project, the Deep Space Network Operations Team hopes to not only train valuable skills but also promote the enjoyment that comes from gaining knowledge via self-discovery. The team looks forward to offering the Summer School students an insight into what training as an Operator entails, and what it means to play a critical role in the UK’s future in space.

GHY-6 acquires first image data from Mars Express

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 10:35:02 GMT

In a world first our Deep Space Communications Antenna, GHY-6 , acquired telemetry, including images, of the martian surface.

On Sunday 11th July 2021 the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft beaming data to ESA Operations via Goonhilly’s Deep Space Communications Antenna - GHY6 – beginning a scientific collaboration between the two organisations.

The data received by GHY6 included images from the @esamarswebcam https://blogs.esa.int/vmc/vmc-data-archive/

This is truly an historic world first – Goonhilly, Cornwall, UK now operates the world's FIRST privately owned deep space communications antenna :)))...

Massive congratulations to CEO Ian Jones and the whole team at Goonhilly, in Cornwall, UK.

UK Astronaut Tim Peake opens Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd’s GHY-6 Deep Space Antenna

Goonhilly’s Deep Space Antenna tracks global push for Mars, in UK first

GHY-6 Team win award at the 2020 Sir Arthur C. Clarke awards ceremony

NASA's Mars 2020 EDL Event observed by GHY-6 Deep Space Antenna

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 11:47:09 GMT

Acquisition of signal 18th February 2021

Wow! What a truly amazing end to February 2021 for the next chapter in Mars exploration. Not only was the world watching as 3 nations successfully reached the red planet (orbital insertion of both UAE Hope and China’s Tianwen-1, and the landing of NASA/JPL Perseverance) but here at Goonhilly we were also listening!

Taking short breaks from our final testing campaigns on the newly-upgraded GHY-6 Deep Space antenna we eagerly listened in as signals were beamed Earthwards by all 3 of the latest Mars missions. After successfully observing both the Emirates Mars Mission and China's Tianwen-1 reaching Mars orbit, on 18 ^th February 2021, as NASA’s Mars Perseverance hurtled towards the Martian atmosphere, we recorded its every whisper.

In collaboration with BAE our engineers were able to successfully capture the Direct-To-Earth signal 'tones' used by NASA/JPL to indicate the successful operation of the spacecraft as it went through the entry phase of the EDL (Entry, Descent & Landing) sequence. We were also able to measure the rapid frequency shift as the spacecraft slowed when entering the Martian atmosphere just before landing.

C lick on the images below to see a zoom of the different phases described in the text.

The recorded signal tells a fascinating story!

The carrier signal is clearly visible in the centre of the waterfall plots * , along with the different frequency ‘tones’ either side of the carrier signal which the lander used to signal the success of each stage of the EDL.

The gaps in the signal correspond to a change of the signal carrier mode, the detachment of the cruising stage causing the lander’s antenna to be ‘shadowed’, and at the very end the loss of signal due to low signal-to-noise ratio.

The signal can be seen to become weaker as the signal is switched from the cruise stage antenna to the smaller low gain antenna on the lander, as well as when the lander hits the atmosphere. In the final portion of the visible signal the frequency can be seen to shift very rapidly as the lander decelerates.

Technical details

The GHY-6 antenna made innovative use of the Open-Loop raw RF capture in our Deep-Space Modems, in observing Perseverance's dramatic descent onto Mars. We used our TTCP Modems' highly flexible PLL tracking to maintain lock on the signal received from a small antenna on the capsule backshell. Post-processing was applied to the captured high-fidelity raw RF data to extract the final extreme dynamics of Perseverance's deceleration on hitting the Martian atmosphere

* These are spectrograms, which are a way of showing the contribution of waves at different frequencies to an overall radio signal (or any other wave signal).

Engineering Maths for Space – A new way of looking at it.

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 12:00:38 GMT

“Westward Ho! Musing on Mathematics and Mechanics”

I was recently asked by Prof. Alan Champneys (Engineering Maths, Bristol ) to review his paper

Pdf > ”Westward Ho! Musing on Mathematics and Mechanics"

that’s being published in this month’s “Mathematics Today” magazine.

His request wasn’t at all because of my mathematical prowess. I was asked to fact check the contents since the paper was inspired by the author’s visit to Goonhilly. I was pleasantly surprised to get a personal mention alongside Lord Kelvin, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Elon Musk and Sir William Hamilton (inventor of 4-dimensional imaginary numbers, “quaternions” – critical for navigation in space), to name but a few! Very flattering, so I read on…

The paper describes the problem that normal rules of multiplication break down when calculating rotations in 3 dimensions. It really matters in which order things happen: In one dimension, 3 x 4 = 4 x 3 = 12. In 2D, using complex numbers, the same is also true. But in 3 dimensions it’s not the case. As Alan explains in relation to the yaw, pitch and roll of an aeroplane, “a roll of 45° followed by a yaw of 45° would result in a totally different configuration than the same side slip followed by the roll. Try it.”

The solution, devised by Hamilton in 1843, which is to jump to 4 dimensions, turns out to be so complex to visualise that the technique was largely forgotten and replaced by vector analysis. It’s only towards the end of the 20 ^th century that quaternions have had a revival because of their ability to describe rotations, and unlike Euler angles, they are not susceptible to the “gimbal lock” phenomenon that so plagued the Apollo astronauts. They also simplify the calculation of rotations in computer graphics as well as describing electron spin in particle physics.

This all made me think back to the maths lectures during my electronic engineering degree. It was said that the engineering students covered the same course material as the mathematics majors in our first year and we had a full timetable of engineering subjects as well! We had our maths course at lunch time, every day from, 12:00-13:00. Our maths lecturer would, at break-neck speed, fill six rotating blackboards with mathematical hieroglyphics, only to start over again, rubbing out the previous notes to fill them all a second time. It was all we could do just to keep up with the notetaking. We covered everything from Fourier, Laplace and Z transforms, second order differential equations, Maxwell’s equations, numerical methods for solving differential equations, matrix algebra, partial differential equations, gamma, beta, error and elliptic integrals, triple products of vectors… the list goes on. It was all done in highly codified and abstract shorthand. If you missed the several hundred steps that resulted in the definition of the Grad operator – then tough!

I recall musing at the time (1982-5) – “if only there was an interactive graphical presentation of all this gobbledegook, I’m sure I would understand it a lot better!”

Fast forward to the present and a couple of years ago, I stumbled across the YouTube video channel of Grant Sanderson, 3Blue1Brown .

This was a revelation! The channel has more hits than many pop videos. Grant’s video explaining the Fourier Transform is beautiful – and has over 5 million views. I hastily consumed as many of his videos as I could with the cloud lifting from my university maths fog with each one.

So, as I completed the proof reading of “Westward Ho!”, I was amazed to read that the key recommendation for understanding how quaternions work was to head over to 3Blue1Brown. I highly recommend that you do!

And if you’re in any doubt that you would ever have an interest in, or some understanding of advanced mathematics, I urge you to watch this TED Talk by Grant Sanderson

Thanks to Prof. Alan Champneys and Mathematics Today magazine for allowing us to reproduce the full article, and downloadable pdf , here.

Goonhilly's Response to COVID-19

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 08:51:22 GMT

We ask all our visitors and contractors to follow our site specific rules that will be explained to you on your arrival.

Visitors will be escorted at all times by a representative of GES and it is critical that you only access the areas on site that are relevant to the nature of your visit.

Contractors working on site may not always be under direct supervision, so with this in mind you will be required to:

Comply with your risk assessments and any additional safe working procedures.
Report to your GES representative when you arrive and before you leave our site.
Comply with all specific rules if working as part of a construction project.
Work in a professional and considerate manner.
Clear all generated waste and leave work areas in a safe condition.

A Universe of Wonder awaits...

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:17:39 GMT

Staying home and saving lives whilst home schooling

As you play your part in helping stop the spread of Covid-19 by 'staying home and saving lives' allow us to share with you our passion for all things Space related. Every amazing journey starts with a single step, so who knows, maybe yours will start with a single click...

APOLLO 50 - celebrating Apollo 50th

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 21:46:45 GMT

Festival to remember...

Goonhilly Earth Station, one of Cornwall’s most iconic locations, will be staging an event this summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing.

Apollo 50 is a one-off special event on Saturday 20th July that will celebrate this monumental anniversary of history with an educational and entertaining day of music, science, art, and culture.

The Goonhilly satellite communications site based on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula played a pivotal role in broadcasting the Moon landing in 1969. “Arthur”, once the largest satellite dish in the world and named after King Arthur, signalled the dawn of the space age when it beamed images of the 1969 moon landing to millions of homes around the World.

The first musical acts to be announced to play the event are Art-rock band Public Service Broadcasting who will be bringing their full audio-visual show to the iconic dishes at Goonhilly Earth Station, along with The Radiophonic Workshop, “A Love From Outer Space”, the brain child of DJ & producers Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston and Cornwall’s very own Bowie Lounge.

Following recent sold out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Natural History Museum, Public Service Broadcasting will perform songs from their 2015 album The Race for Space, a concept album that relives the story of the American and Soviet space race.

Event Director Alec Short said “Goonhilly’ s iconic dishes, the history of the site and its plans for the future makes this such an exciting venue to stage a concert. To have Public Service Broadcasting performing ‘Race for Space’ and The Radiophonic Workshop in the vicinity of the giant dishes will be an almost immersive unforgettable concert experience…”

Radiophonic Workshop, who were the BBC’s sound effects department, have been responsible for creating other-worldly soundtracks to some of BBC television and radio’s most iconic programmes like Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Horizon. Using early electronics, synthesisers and tape machines, the Workshop’s influence on popular music has been profound and enduring. Goonhilly Earth Station was also mentioned in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, when its dishes failed to detect the Vogon invasion that ultimately led to the end of the world.

Andrew Weatherall, producer of Primal Scream’s seminal Screamadelica album, and Sean Johnston will also be bringing their experiment in interplanetary audio ‘A Love from Outer Space’ guiding you on a 4-hour trip through the deepest realms of space at the after-show party in The Old Visitor Centre.

A lot more content is due to be released soon including films, guest speakers and art installations, but you can now buy tickets for this strictly limited capacity event from the event’s website apollo50.co.uk. Please note there will be no camping or parking at Goonhilly Earth Station, but the event will have car parks and a basic campsite nearby that will be linked by a Park & Ride service.

Successful Year 10 Work Experience Week

Fri, 17 Aug 2018 09:40:30 GMT

For a week in March, Goonhilly Earth Station hosted six enthusiastic and motivated Year 10 students on a full programme of all things 'Space & Satellites'.

The students were given a project to disassemble and recover components from the old GHY-8 antenna, sort the equipment and identify working parts, which provided hours of team work, curiosity and intrigue.

Learning from skilled experts in fields such as Satcom Basics, Orbits, Electromagnetic Spectrum and Antenna Tracking gave them an insight into cutting edge technology whilst instilling a sense of awe and wonder regarding the history of telecommunications and the iconic steel 'Dishes of the Downs'.

Keeping their logbooks up-to-date gave opportunity to reflect on the day's events and record significant experiences and data. The week culminated with each group giving a presentation to GES staff, family and teachers, and delighting their audience with knowledge gained and newly found friendships.

With comments including 'There isn't a thing I would or could change to my experience as it was perfect and precise'; 'My work experience at GES has surpassed my expectations' and 'I wish I could spend much longer here', we are sure that Rory, Guy, Theo, Molly, Samuel & Jack enjoyed a stimulating week and invaluable experiences. They returned to their schools (Penryn & Mullion, Cornwall; Five Islands, Isles of Scilly; and Colstons, Bristol) full of inspiration, increased learning and a desire to pursue a STEM based career.

23 pupils experience week-long Goonhilly Summer School

Fri, 17 Aug 2018 09:35:03 GMT

Last week, we had 23 Lower Sixth pupils from various schools across Cornwall, but also from further away, on site.

They participated in our week-long Year 12 Summer School. Lectures included topics such as satellite communications, engineering principles, orbital mechanics, maths for communications, applications of satellite data, and even the business aspects of running an earth station, just to name a few. Several guest speakers kindly contributed, including Stefano Casalegno from the Satellite Applications Catapult, Melissa Thorpe from Aerohub, and Ross James, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency.

The pupils were able to practice their teamwork and presentations skills in a hands-on project, which taught them in an interactive manner how a personal computer works. They were so engaged in the their projects that every free minute - even scheduled breaks - were used to fine tune another detail or to try a new approach to fixing a problem. The group also learned about historic technology in satellite communications, thanks to the efforts of the Goonhilly Heritage Society.

Parents and teachers were able to attend the six teams' final presentations, and were extremely impressed by the amount of knowledge and skill the pupils gained throughout the week. The week was rounded off by a sunny Friday afternoon, and the group was excited to have their group photo taken by a quadcopter. Many of the pupils are now returning home for the summer with a renewed or increased enthusiasm to pursue STEM studies and careers.

Here at Goonhilly, we are looking forward to welcoming another cohort of pupils to our Summer School next year!

Business (not quite) as usual

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:11:57 GMT

In early October, I travelled to the Ghanaian capital of Accra for a one week training course. Goonhilly are proud to be part of the DARA project

DARA is collaboration between university and business partners to foster radio astronomy training in several African countries. In this partnership, we deliver training centred around satellite technology and business practice as part of a wider radio astronomy course.

This year, I spent a week with 18 students from in and around Accra to explore satellite technology. With discussed some basic terminology, gained insights into Earth Observation techniques and applications, and thought about entrepreneurship skills. The students were then able to work in teams to come up with their own business ideas based in satellite technology and related topics. It was a very intensive, but highly successful week, and I learned as much as the students - about their motivations and drivers, their backgrounds, interests, and passions. Their business ideas were well thought through, addressed problems worth solving, and with a bit of extra work could be turned into viable businesses.

Many of the students will continue on an academic career path for now, pushing the boundaries of radio astronomy and other sciences. I sincerely hope though that at least a few of them - one day - turn their current or future business ideas into reality and make some exciting contributions to the satellite and technology sectors.

Dr Kat Hickey

Business Development & Training Manager

Helston Community College have 'Lift off'

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 09:57:14 GMT

Guest post by David Pollard

(The Careers & Enterprise Company)

Pupils from Helston Community College had a special visitor beamed into class recently to talk to them about space. Canadian astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield joined the lucky students for a 30 minute Skype interview session. The students from Year 7 to 11 had the opportunity to ask him one question each, with topics ranging from ‘What is it like to sleep in space?’, to ‘Do you think it will be possible to inhabit Mars one day?’.

The event was organised by Science teacher Dr James Allen who was lucky enough to meet Chris Hadfield during the filming of the TV programme Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes in which Dr Allen finished in the top four.

Dr James Allen said: “I met Chris Hadfield during filming of the TV show and thought it would be a great idea to try and get him involved in a Q&A with students from school. I emailed some of his people and they managed to arrange it for us, it was an incredible experience for the students.”

One of the students lucky enough to ask a question during the interview was Toby Allen who was interested to find out what it was like to re-enter the Earth’s Atmosphere. He was surprised to find out that Chris ‘could see flames coming off of the shuttle outside his window’. Toby said: “The interview was a once in a lifetime opportunity, it has really inspired me to become a pilot when I leave school”, which is what Chris was before he became an astronaut.

The second half of the class session included a presentation from Enterprise Adviser, Kat Hickey, who works at Goonhilly Space Station and talked about the growing range of opportunities that students have in the space sector in the county. Kat said: “It was an incredibly aspiring talk from Chris and has been a great opportunity to highlight to Helston School students the opportunities that they could have in the future with some of the large and small organisations that work in the space sector in Cornwall.”

It was a fantastic event and in answer to the questions above, sleeping in space is ‘immensely comfortable with every muscle in the body being relaxed’ and Chris does believe that one day we will inhabit Mars, based on the fact that when he was born people had not even been to space.

Goonhilly & Telstar - looking back on 55 years

Wed, 09 Aug 2017 09:17:43 GMT

As of July 2017, it's been 55 years since the launch of the iconic Telstar satellite, and since JFK's famous, TV broadcasted, press conference.

The press conference was transmitted from the US to Europe via the Telstar satellite, Goonhilly Earth Station's Aerial-1 ("Arthur"), and French earth station Plemeur Bodou in Brittany.

The Telstar satellite has long been replaced by other, more sophisticated models. Goonhilly Aerial-1, however, an 1100 tonne giant, is still standing strong, and ready to enter the next working phase as part of a network of large antennas for radio astronomy.

Read more about Aerial-1 on the UK Space Agency's blog or on Telstar and related technology on the UK Space Agency's news site.

Goonhilly Mission Operations Training Course 2016

Sat, 09 Jul 2016 09:46:17 GMT

The short course, aimed at industry professionals and science/engineering graduates will combine elements of ground segment and space segment operations, communications and practical exercises.

Building on the success of the initial course last year, Goonhilly is rapidly growing, with recent announcements of its Enterprise Zone status and Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, the site is adding new facilities and capabilities at an accelerating pace.

The Mission Operations course will be delivered in conjunction with expert partners from GES Ltd, Catena Space, Scisys and QinetiQ. The team has a unique experience in mission operations both in commercial satellite communications and planetary science missions.

About Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd

Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd (GES) acquired the world-famous Goonhilly Satellite Station from BT in 2014. It is an independent, privately-owned SME providing a complete range of satellite communications services and growing an ever wider range of space and data related services.

GES clients include some of the largest global satellite operators such as SES, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Hispasat and Planet Labs. Working alongside ESA, QinetiQ, BAE Systems and SSTL, GES is developing the world’s first private Deep Space Communication system. GES also has close relationships with a wide range of leading universities including Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Southampton, Durham, Herts to enhance UK capabilities in Radio Astronomy.

In December 2015 it was announced that Goonhilly is to become an Enterprise Zone as part of the expanded Newquay Airport Aerohub Enterprise Zone.

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UK data centre numbers to grow – Goonhilly still only option in Cornwall

Research reveals anticipated boom in UK data centre construction – but limited colocation options in South-West

Cornwall’s data centre – not just for the space sector!

Why choose Goonhilly’s data centre?

1. High security

2. State-of-the-art infrastructure

3. Excellent connectivity

Reflecting on Goonhilly Summer School

Thank you Holly for sharing your experiences in this brilliant blog post! We’re thrilled to hear that the experience meant so much to you!

2023: A Year in Highlights

A YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS

JANUARY

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

MARCH

APRIL

APRIL

MAY

MAY

JUNE

JUNE

JULY

JULY

AUGUST

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

International Women's Day 2023

60 years ago today, on 11th July 1962, Goonhilly made world history.

Today marks the 60 th anniversary of the first ever live transmission of TV signals between two continents via an artificial satellite

Onwards 60 years

Goonhilly Team Prepare Summer School Weather Satellite Project

GHY-6 acquires first image data from Mars Express

In a world first our Deep Space Communications Antenna, GHY-6 , acquired telemetry, including images, of the martian surface.

Related Articles

UK Astronaut Tim Peake opens Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd’s GHY-6 Deep Space Antenna

Goonhilly’s Deep Space Antenna tracks global push for Mars, in UK first

GHY-6 Team win award at the 2020 Sir Arthur C. Clarke awards ceremony

NASA's Mars 2020 EDL Event observed by GHY-6 Deep Space Antenna

Acquisition of signal 18th February 2021

Engineering Maths for Space – A new way of looking at it.

“Westward Ho! Musing on Mathematics and Mechanics”

Goonhilly's Response to COVID-19

We ask all our visitors and contractors to follow our site specific rules that will be explained to you on your arrival.

A Universe of Wonder awaits...

Staying home and saving lives whilst home schooling

APOLLO 50 - celebrating Apollo 50th

Festival to remember...

Successful Year 10 Work Experience Week

For a week in March, Goonhilly Earth Station hosted six enthusiastic and motivated Year 10 students on a full programme of all things 'Space & Satellites'.

23 pupils experience week-long Goonhilly Summer School

Last week, we had 23 Lower Sixth pupils from various schools across Cornwall, but also from further away, on site.

Business (not quite) as usual

In early October, I travelled to the Ghanaian capital of Accra for a one week training course. Goonhilly are proud to be part of the DARA project

Helston Community College have 'Lift off'

Guest post by David Pollard

(The Careers & Enterprise Company)

Goonhilly & Telstar - looking back on 55 years

As of July 2017, it's been 55 years since the launch of the iconic Telstar satellite, and since JFK's famous, TV broadcasted, press conference.

Goonhilly Mission Operations Training Course 2016

The short course, aimed at industry professionals and science/engineering graduates will combine elements of ground segment and space segment operations, communications and practical exercises.

Today marks the 60 ^th anniversary of the first ever live transmission of TV signals between two continents via an artificial satellite