Goonhilly, the former BT-owned earth station, has unveiled a future roadmap for commercial space communications, space exploration, broadcast data services and engineering design.
Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, which acquired the site from BT in 2014, has secured £32.4 million in investment and contract wins, including £24 million from UK billionaire Peter Hargreaves. It now sees itself at the centre of a space economy driven by private investment and solid growth performance.
Its plans include the installation of new deep space antennas for the launch of the first private deep space communication network that will support commercial lunar and Mars missions from 2020; investment in infrastructure and facilities in the United and Australia to support deep space projects, LEO constellations and international terrestrial projects; the construction of a state-of-the-art, green data centre featuring unparalleled connectivity and the opening of an R&D and manufacturing facility
“Many of the world’s leading space companies have already selected Goonhilly as a trusted partner. As we enter into our next chapter of expansion, our aim is to be the preferred partner for organisations seeking to take advantage of our disruptive, entrepreneurial approach to business,” said Ian Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, the privately held company which acquired the iconic 164-acre Cornwall site from BT in 2014.
Goonhilly has drawn up a fully funded plan to create the world’s first private deep space network in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). It recently won an £8.4 million ESA contract, and is using funds provided by the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to upgrade the 32m Goonhilly-6 dish to provide ESA with communications for future lunar missions.
Through the collaboration with ESA, Goonhilly will be involved in upcoming return-to-the-moon missions including the communications with spacecraft on the first Space Launch System (SLS) launch.
Acknowledging the changing nature of broadcasting Goonhilly is establishing a datacentre that supports of data-intensive live streaming as broadcaster switch from satellite to IP delivery. “We have the agility, approach and technology to shake up the existing world order in the mature satellite broadcasting sector,” added Jones.
Customers already include SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat and Hughes/Echostar, as well as space agencies, governments, broadcasters and others.
