Goonhilly Set to Boost Deep Space Comms Services

A new contract has been announced to provide deep space communication services to the UK and international partners from Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall. The contract was signed on 16th October 2024 during the International Astronautical Congress in Milan.  

Space agencies are finding the existing communications capacity stretched due to the number of space missions going beyond Earth orbit. This expansion will help the space agencies to keep up with a demand that is only going to grow. 

Goonhilly and the UK’s Space Services Market

Goonhilly, and the whole of the United Kingdom’s space services market, is in a unique position to support space communications services. The Goonhilly facility has already supported the CubeSats deployed on the Artemis-I mission as well as providing services to ISRO and ESA.

Sir Chris Bryant, speaking in his position as Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms, said:  

“Just as digital infrastructure helps us stay connected here on Earth, this government-backed contract will play a vital role in supporting humanity’s next steps to the Moon and beyond.  

The UK has a real competitive advantage in space and I want to exploit that to its full potential, using innovative commercial models such as those demonstrated by Goonhilly and the UK Space Agency to attract more investment, generate high-quality jobs and support our international partners.”

A huge growth in the number of lunar missions (including private companies’ missions) has led to this demand, and the UK Space Agency has recognized that Goonhilly has the chance to support this demand.

The UK Space Agency and Goonhilly will work with international partners and showcase the facility’s state-of-the-art facilities. Initially, they will provide telemetry and navigation services but could eventually provide uplink services to spacecraft in flight. Goonhilly has a proven track-record of providing these services on other missions.

“Our work with Goonhilly is a great example of how the UK can benefit from the commercial opportunities associated with developing the nascent lunar and deep space economy,” said Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency. “This contract award signals a step change in how we use different tools as a government agency to support the growing space sector and strengthen international partnerships.  

Cornwall is in the heart of a growing space cluster that already has 300+ space organisations and generates £600 million in annual income while employing thousands of people in the region. This new contract will further cement the station’s importance to the UK space industry.