Space Tech 2010 - Space Technology Symposium

10th March 2010
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

STFC Innovations Club and ESA Technology Transfer Programme celebrated UK achievements in advanced space technologies and their applications to other sectors. Attended by 160 delegates the event provided an opportunity to demonstrate how space technologies can be more widely deployed.

RAL at Harwell hosted the symposium, where the new ISIC (International Space Innovations Centre) is to be located to work closely with the newly launched UK Space Agency.

Prof Keith Mason opened the event with details of new major developments in the UK space sector. He outlined the use of technology transfer and the benefit to the UK economy, as the space sector is one of the industries proving to be recession proof. A BNSC promotional film (link below) provided an anticipatory atmosphere of space technology and its promise.

|Transcript of UK in Space film (PDF-11Kb) (PDF - 11Kb - opens in a new window).

The Plenary session chaired by Dr Major Chahal, STFC Innovations Directorate, began with an introduction to the ESA TTP and its use by Chris Bee, STFC Innovations Ltd. Following on Prof Richard Holdaway, detailed the work at Space Science and Technology Department at RAL, emphasising their 45 year heritage and the associated technology transfer from security imaging to monitoring blood flow. Drawing a close to the session, Niels Eldering described the incubation facilities run by ESA at ESTEC, Noordvijk and other centres around Europe based on "turning technology into business".

Dividing attentions of the delegates, the afternoon sessions provided the chance to attend either parallel session (technology solution or challenges) or the exhibition area, displaying a range of space technologies.

Grand challenges were presented outlining the problems that each sector needs to address, from the following industries:

• MOD
• Yorkshire water
• NHS TrusTECH

During the allotted networking periods, there were immediate leads between space exploration (Phoenix expedition to Mars) and monitoring water systems run by regional water authorities.

During the technology solutions session we heard from:

• Tessella on how the application of techniques used to improve the accuracy of inertial navigation sensors for attitude control of spacecraft can be applied in terrestrial applications where GPS (or other navigation aids) are unavailable.
  
  
• SciSys showcased their intelligent software systems derived from science planning for exploration robotics
  
  
• QinetiQ provided an overview of key technologies developed for space that have relevance to advancing ground-based technology.
  
  
• Herriot-Watt University demonstrated space-based astronomy techniques have been successfully applied to bio-imaging, giving the medical community a full 3D understanding of biological processes.
  
  
• University of Leicester explained how medical applications have benefited by way of multiple spin-outs derived from X-ray and γ-ray space-based astronomy.
  
  
• Security imaging based on millimetre wave components developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for earth observation from space have revolutionised the way we see our world.

Event programme

The programme is also available as a downloadable pdf document below.

|Programme (PDF - 27Kb - opens in a new window) (pdf - 20 Kb)