INTERVIEW


MS: There are a number of really exciting goals – sustained habitation on the Moon, further exploration of Mars and the search for evidence of life there, commercial spaceflight – space tourism, human exploration of Mars – maybe by commercial companies, constellations of 100s even 1,000s of small satellites bringing internet to the most remote regions and persistent Earth observation…. Local companies can play a part – if they have the drive and imagination.


AH: Star Trek was the big thing in the 1960s – showing a future where we could travel faster than the speed of light between galaxies, communicate across vast distances through tiny hand-held devices, use other ‘tablets’ to transport information and carry out non-invasive medical diagnosis and intervention. With MRI scanners, x-rays and ultrasound, we have non-invasive medical diagnosis, the communications devices and tablets became a reality, but are we anywhere near to achieving teleportation, travelling at the speed of light and the other predictions of science fiction? MS: I believe some aspects of teleportation are being demonstrated in principle using quantum engineering but it is a long way off still.


AH: As a teenager, I remember reading a book, a sci-fi novel, about space travel in which the spacecraft used the gravitational fields of planets and space winds to travel. I think it was Albert Einstein who posited the possibility of space winds but did I read somewhere, just a few weeks ago, that space winds have been discovered? Could they be used for space travel? MS: The gravitational sling-shot by planets has been used routinely for solar system exploration and the solar ‘wind’ comprising the stream of energetic particles from the sun has been used to demonstrate ‘solar sailing’ in recent years.


AH: Would I be right in thinking that my depth of understanding of ‘space’ is probably about the same as most people’s, ie, what I read and watched as a youngster flavouring my perceptions of what the space industry is all about, what it is trying to achieve? MS: I find that there is a very wide range of understanding of what we do in space and what space can do for us across the (non-specialist) people I speak with. Generally, it is probably true that the public as a whole is


largely unaware of how dependent we are now on space to support our daily lives and how embedded space is in our economy, security and wellbeing. Each of us uses space-derived services every day – whether it be satnav, ATMs, satellite TV…


AH: Does it annoy or amuse you that, like me, most people probably have very little understanding of what the sector is really all about? MS: It neither annoys nor amuses me, it is fine that generally people are unaware that services they are using may be coming from space – it should be seamless to the user. However, on a strategic level, it is important that the


public understands that space is useful, valuable and an exciting challenge.


AH: Do you tell people you work in the ‘space’ sector or do you tell them, for example, that you’re a scientist? MS: If asked, I explain that I am an engineer that builds and operates satellites that provide communications, remote sensing and navigation services – in the most efficient and low-cost way.


AH: What about your interest in ‘space’, what was it that first attracted you to the industry? Did you, for example, as a teenager, dream of being an astronaut? Did you watch Thunderbirds, Star Trek, Space 1999 and think “that’s what I want to do when I grow up”? MS: I am a child of the Apollo era and watched the Moon landings as a teenager – that inspired me to apply my fascination with radio communications to space and satellites.


24 business network June 2016


Sir Martin is Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the National Space Centre, Leicester This then coincided with the emergence of microelectronics


and microcomputers that made it possible for me to propose building a ‘microsatellite’ – on a microbudget. After building two successful microsatellites at the


University of Surrey that were launched in 1981 and 1984 respectively, the cancellation of the UK National Space Programme gave me no alternative other than to start a commercial company to fund the continuation of small satellites and their applications. As it happens, I did not watch Thunderbirds, Star Trek, or


Space 1999 but rather read Arthur C Clark’s books and listened, later on, to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.


AH: We’ve aimed for space and touched it, we’ve aimed for the moon and walked on it, we’ve sent probes to the outer reaches of our galaxy and, quite recently beyond, we’ve put vehicles on Mars… what is there now to aim for? MS: We need to reach out further and explore the solar system planets and their moons in greater detail – see whether there is evidence of past or present life. We have sustained habitation in low Earth orbit on the International Space Station but we need to move out to a Moon base and then Mars.


AH: I guess, the ultimate goal must be to find evidence of life on other planets, possibly intelligent life. Do you think it is possible that there is intelligent life on other planets or could it be that only Earth ever had the right set of circumstances to create it? MS: We are discovering potentially habitable planets around distant stars – we need to learn more about these and be ready for when we discover life there, before very long in my opinion.


AH: What would you like to be remembered for your work in the sector? MS: As a pioneer of modern small satellites.


AH: Are you a family man? Do your children share your passion? MS: My nephew spent a few weeks at SSTL and became inspired by space and engineering.


‘Each of us uses space-derived services every day – whether it be satnav, ATMs, satellite TV…’


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