Space: Brexit's new frontier

Control centre for the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system.

CHINA'S out of control space station, which is set to come crashing out of orbit this weekend, offers an alarming metaphor for the possible trajectory of Britain’s multi-billion-pound space industry after Brexit.

The sector, which is worth £14 billion a year and estimated to contribute £250 billion to the wider economy, was almost universally dismayed by the result of the referendum. As Richard Peckham, head of trade organisation Ukspace and director of strategy for Airbus Defence & Space, put it: “I don’t think I’ve met anybody in the space industry or academia who wants Brexit.”

Along with broader warnings, about how the sector will cope with the likely impact on the cross-border movement of goods, services, data and people, on which it relies, there have also been specific and immediate threats to the sector. This includes uncertainty over the UK’s continued participation in the EU’s Galileo navigation and Copernicus Earth observation programmes, as well others such as Govsatcom (which deals with communications), IRIS (air traffic management) and SSA/SST (space debris).

Peckham, and others in the sector, have said that the impact of Brexit has already been felt, with foreign customers and suppliers making contingency plans to exclude British firms, as a precaution, in case UK companies become ineligible for future contracts.

His advice to the government has been not to approach negotiations with the EU in an “adversarial manner”, because other countries might see this as an opportunity to take work from the UK, while UKspace also outlined five things it wanted from negotiations with the EU: to retain full access to EU space programmes; to avoid UK industry being marginalised; to retain access to and influence in the collaborative R&D programmes run by the EU; to maintain access to the EU pool of skilled labour; and to keep frictionless access to the EU single market without burdensome customs and administration.

There is no evidence that ministers have been listening to these pleas, but space has certainly been elevated to the higher echelons of government this week, after it was revealed the European Commission had written to the UK to explain that it would be inappropriate to divulge highly sensitive information to a departing member state about post-2019 contracts for the secure element of its Galileo satellite navigation system.

“If the commission shared this information with the UK (which will become a third country) it would irretrievably compromise the integrity of certain elements of these systems for many years after the withdrawal of the UK,” the letter said.

It suggests Britain’s space industry will be locked out of the programme, with its companies frozen out of the next round of long-term contracts relating to the system – which are expected to be awarded in June.

Basic navigation services from the Galileo satellites are available for all, but use of the encrypted, robust Public Regulated Service (PRS) is designed for government-authorised users – such as the military, fire brigades and the police – and is restricted to those inside the EU.

The row suggests that every fear the industry has may be realised. The sector is so closely entwined with Europe that after the UK leaves the EU, it risks being lost in space.

This is not to say that ‘Europe’s’ space ambitions equate to the EU’s, of course. The European Space Agency (ESA) is a separate body, after all, and not part of the EU. Norway and Switzerland are members of the ESA, for example, but not members of the EU. And not all of the EU’s 28 members are members of ESA.

But the EU itself is a major contributor to ESA, principally for the Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS), which began operations in December 2016, and the Copernicus Earth observation programmes, and it is likely to become ever more involved in this field.

Airbus UK and other British space companies believe their expertise puts them in a strong position to win more Copernicus business and there will be dozens of new lucrative Copernicus contracts up for grabs in the next two to three years. But the latest row over involvement in Galileo might indicate otherwise.

The UK’s space industry, which provides jobs for around 40,000 people, has been doing well, buoyed by its previous close involvement in European space programmes, and is currently showing growth of around 7% a year. The sector’s success has helped prompt the Space Industry Act 2018, which received Royal assent earlier this month and is aimed at providing a regulatory framework for the commercial launch of satellites from UK spaceports.

Though receiving much publicity this is perhaps more a flight of fancy than anything grounded in near-term reality, and should not be seen as something that would provide anything like an alternative to ESA membership. 

Plans for commercial spaceflight launches from UK spaceports might become more viable in the future with cheaper launch systems, including some of the horizontal launch systems with which entrepreneurial UK space businesses are involved. On the other hand, several of the proposed spaceport locations are in Scotland, which might be affected if the country, which voted to remain in the EU, had a further independence referendum and decided to leave the UK in order to seek membership of the EU.

So what of the future of the UK space programme? As ESA and the EU are separate organisations, the UK will most likely continue with ESA membership as the preferred option for the foreseeable future. Although it is possible that the UK might look for other models, including a home-grown space programme, it is highly unlikely that Britain alone could undertake the breadth of activities in space science and technology that has been possible as a member of the ESA, including human spaceflight.

Stormy waters lie ahead for any organisation linked to Europe and the knock-on effects of Brexit for one of the UK’s most buoyant and future-looking industries and the thousands of people it employs couldn’t be more profound.    

This article by Clive Simpson, a freelance journalist and managing editor of ROOM - The Space Journal, first appeared in The New European newspaper (Easter edition, 28 March -11 April). 

Moon rover awakes

China's lunar rover - the first spacecraft to land on our nearest planetary neighbour in 37 years - has awoken after its troubled dormancy.

But scientists are still trying to find out the cause of a mechanical control abnormality that occurred as the craft went into a scheduled two-week hibernation period during the lunar ‘night’.

After several days of uncertainty Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesman for the Chinese space programme, announced this morning that the country’s moon rover had been restored to its normal signal reception function.

The problem emerged on 25 January before Yutu (Jade Rabbit) entered its second period of planned dormancy on the moon as lunar night fell.

"Yutu went to sleep under an abnormal status," Pei said, adding that experts were concerned that it might not be able to survive the extremely low temperatures during the lunar night.

"The rover stands a chance of being saved now that it is still alive," he said.

Its deployment on 15 December 2014 was the first successful landing on the Moon since 1976 and it was expected to operate for about three months.

Earlier reports in Chinese media had suggested that it had been declared dead on the surface of the moon.

In a report entitled ‘Loss of lunar rover’, the China News Service said that the rover "could not be restored to full function on Monday as expected" and was "mourned" by Chinese social media users.

China’s ‘Jade Rabbit’ lunar rover on the moon's surface
as seen from the landing platform in late December 2014.

The six-wheeled rover is designed to hibernate during the lunar night, when the sun dips below the horizon for two weeks and temperatures plunge to minus 180C (-292F).

The rover carries plutonium heaters to keep the rover's delicate electronics warm at night and is fitted with solar panels to generate power for the vehicle's science instrumentation, radio transmitters and other equipment. 

Before the sun goes down at Yutu's landing site, it is programmed to fold down its camera, antenna mast and solar panels. It is while executing these the rover ran into trouble 

Unofficial accounts posted on Chinese websites claimed it was unable to stow one of its solar panels over the retracted camera mast on top of the robot's instrument deck.

The Chang'e 3 lander and its rover (see Sleeping satellite) marked a milestone in China's ambitious long-term space exploration programme, which includes establishing a permanent space station in Earth orbit.

Sleeping satellite

If all goes to plan China’s Chang'e 3 probe will land on the Moon at the end of next week and open up a new era of lunar exploration.

The mission is a symbol of China's power and prowess. But look behind the political smokescreen and there is a sharp commercial edge to the country’s space ambitions.

Forty plus years ago it was the United States that inspired a generation growing up in the 1960s by making the ‘giant leap’ from Earth to the Moon.

Capitalism proved it could be first but it was more of a means to an end and became politically unsustainable even before the last men left the Moon in 1972.

How fortunes have changed. Communist China is now the world’s leading and most buoyant economy and has its sights set firmly on the opportunities presented by our nearest planetary neighbour.

Chang'e 3 is scheduled to land on 14 December in a region known as Bay of Rainbows, or Sinus Iridum, located on the upper-left part of the full Moon as viewed from Earth.

The mission blasted off from Xichang in the south of the country at 17.30 GMT on Sunday (1 December) and the spacecraft’s landing module includes a six-wheeled robotic rover called Yutu (translated as Jade Rabbit).

It will be China's first lunar rover as well as becoming the first spacecraft since the Soviet Luna 24 mission in 1976 to make a soft landing on the Moon,

According to information released by its design company the Shanghai Aerospace Systems Engineering Research Institute, the 120 kg Jade Rabbit rover can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 m per hour.

Its name - chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters - derives from an ancient Chinese myth about a rabbit living on the Moon as the pet of the lunar goddess Chang'e.

Both the rover and lander are powered by solar panels but some sources suggest they also carry radioisotope heating units (RHUs) containing plutonium-238 to keep them ‘warm’ during the cold lunar night.

The mission - which will explore the Moon's surface and search for evidence of natural resources such as rare metals - carries a sophisticated payload, including ground-penetrating radar which will gather measurements of the lunar soil and crust.

It marks a milestone in China's ambitious long-term space exploration programme, which includes establishing a permanent space station in Earth orbit.

Future planned launches include a flight to bring back samples of lunar soil to Earth and ultimately sending Chinese nationals to the Moon, in what would likely be the first manned lunar missions since the US Apollo programme in the late 1960s and 1970s.

China knows the Moon is full of plunder that is there for the taking - mainly rare earth elements like titanium and uranium that Earth is really short of. And one day these valuable resources can be mined without limitation.

With NASA currently lacking even its own rocket and relying on the Russians to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) it seems, in the words of the chart-topping song ‘Sleeping Satellite’, that the West may have ‘peaked too soon’.

It was the debut single by the British singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer and, in the light of China’s Moon mission and ambitious plans, the lyrics are more poignant than when it was released in 1992.

I blame you for the moonlit sky and the dream that died with the eagles' flight; I blame you for the moonlit nights when I wonder why are the seas still dry? Don't blame this sleeping satellite.
Did we fly to the moon too soon; did we squander the chance in the rush of the race; the reason we chase is lost in romance; and still we try to justify the waste for a taste of man's greatest adventure.

"It's not intended as anti-space travel," says Archer. "It's just the opposite and bemoans the fact that at the time of the anniversary the initiative had not been progressed from the original achievement."

The US may never quite catch up again and will probably one day rue the decision made by its politicians not to re-visit our ‘Sleeping Satellite’ sooner. Perhaps Archer is right and they did peak too soon - and lost a collective sense of adventure in the process.

Tasmin Archer performing 'Sleeping Satellite' at the
SECC in Glasgow in 2008.

Chinese space station

China expects to complete its first orbiting space station within a decade and be able to send crews of up to six people there for short-term missions.

Chinese officials revealed details of the country’s space plans for low Earth orbit during the 64th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Beijing, China, this week.

Mr Dazhe Xu, general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, said the station - covering an area of 60 square metres - would be capable of supporting three astronauts on long-term flights.

Before that China will launch the Tiangong-2 space laboratory in around two years to test renewable life support and in-orbit refuelling systems, technologies that will be essential for the safe operation of the planned space station.

Mr Xu revealed that one cargo 'shuttle' and several crewed spacecraft will be launched to dock with Tiangong-2 at different times.

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the space station will consist of three capsules and a cargo 'shuttle' to transport supplies.

The station's core module will be 18.1 m in length and will weigh 20 to 22 metric tons. It will be attached to two self-contained laboratories.

Mr Wang Zhaoyao, director of the China Manned Space Agency, said that once operational astronauts will be scheduled for long-term missions in orbit, conducting a wide range of technical tests as well as medical, science and educational experiments.

Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut - who appeared with her colleague Wang Yaping, the second Chinese female astronaut who flew into space on Shenzhou 10 in June 2013 - repeated the declaration that her nation would also be willing to accept foreign astronauts for future missions.

The country successfully carried out its first manual space docking, another essential step in building a space station, in June last year when three Chinese astronauts piloted Shenzhou 9 to link up with Tiangong-1.

China became the third country to independently launch a human into space in 2003 and has been rapidly expanding its space programme ever since.

Berndt Feuerbacher, former president of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), said that China's space programme was developing quickly and actively looking for cooperation opportunities.

The annual IAC space congress has a record number of around 3,500 space scientists and business people attending this year, representing some 74 countries from across the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24282060

The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2013 held in Beijing, China, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website