Instant Genius - The future of UK space science, with Andrew Kuh

Episode Date: November 21, 2022

Andrew Kuh is the Exploration Technology Manager at the UK Space Agency. He explains the UK’s involvement with NASA’s Artemis 1 mission and the exciting future that lies ahead for UK space science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's peak pollination season, and my business is scaling fast. To keep the nectar flowing, I need a phone plan with top priority data speed. That's why I chose GoogleFi Wireless. My connections stay strong even when the hive is buzzing. Plus, unlimited plans start at $35 a month. Now, that's a deal that doesn't stay. Explore Google Fi Wireless plans today. Plus taxes and government fees.

GoogleFi Wireless is not subject to data traffic deprioritization during times of high network usage. You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your ocean front room.

Just steps from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay. No one goes to Hank's for his spreadsheets.

They go for a darn good pizza. Lately, though, the shop's been quiet. So Hank decides to bring back the $1 slice. He asks Copilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs. Help him see if he can afford it. Co-pilot shows Hank where the money's going and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now, Hanks has a line out the door.

Hank makes the pizza. Co-Pilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365.com.com slash work. This podcast is sponsored by name, audio and focal. Streaming has made music more accessible than ever, but true listening is about more than ease. It's about quality. British audio experts name audio,

alongside French acoustic specialist focal, combine handcrafted tradition with cutting-edge innovation and high-end materials, delivering digital precision with analogue warmth. So you can experience exceptional sound at home. Music just as the artist intended. Visit name audio.com to learn more. Hello and welcome to Instant Genius, a bite-sized Massa classic podcast form. I'm Jason Goodyear, commissioning editor at BBC Science Focus magazine.

Earlier this month, NASA successfully launched Artemis I, the first of a series of ambitious missions to put humans back on the moon after a 50-year absence. The progress of the spacecraft is currently being tracked by Goon-Hilly Earth Station, a large radio communication satellite based near Halston on the Lizard Peninsula in Commonwealth. In this episode, we speak to Andrew Koo, Exploration Technology Manager at the UK Space Agency. He tells us about Goon Hillies' involvement with the Artemis Project, UK sciences' involvement in Lunar Gateway, the space station planned to be put in orbit around the moon, and the future of the UK's own spaceports. So NASA has just successfully launched the Artemis 1 mission,

kicking off a series of missions to put humans back on the moon for the first time in 50 years. Is it possible? Can we overstate how big a deal this is? it's a huge deal. So obviously instinctively I say no, let's state what a huge deal it is. I mean, it is really significant first step in returning humans to the lunar surface. And some people will say, we did that 50 years ago. But I think what we're seeing now is quite a significant step beyond what's happened before. Firstly, in that we're not just returning humans to the surface of the moon. we're starting a more sustained presence on the surface of the moon. So rather than these missions being a there and back,

it's a there and stay for a while and really maximise the scientific research that you can do on the lunar surface. And yet this is the first step in that journey. The other thing which I think is quite exciting about the Artemis programme and perhaps a bit different to the Apollo program is the degree of involvement from international partners.

so it's not just the US doing this for the US sake. Obviously, it's led initially by the US, and they have the biggest role here. But actually, they are really keen to involve international partners throughout the, not just this mission, but throughout the whole program. And it's going to require contributions from lots of different countries, traditional institutional players, as well as more commercial actors. So, yeah, I think it really is the start of a new era of lunar exploration. Yeah, great.

So just for those who don't know, what exactly is the Artemis 1 mission going to be doing? Sure. So as the name suggests, Artemis 1 is the first launch in the Artemis program. Artemis 1 itself is essentially a test flight. So it's the first time the SLS rocket has been used, which is this huge new rocket, the most powerful rocket to ever be launched successfully. The Soviets did have one that was slightly more powerful, but that never successfully completed a mission. So the purpose is basically to test that all the launch systems work correctly, that the Orion module,

now this is the crude module which sits on top of the launch system and will actually, on future missions, carry the astronauts, check that all the systems on that work as they should. And really importantly to make sure that the reentry systems, so when that capture returns to Earth, that it's safe, it can withstand the extreme temperatures that reentering the Earth's atmosphere. create. So you mentioned just a moment ago that many different international parties are involved in this. Here in the UK, Goon Hilly Earth Station is involved. So first of all, for those who haven't heard of Goon Hilly Earth Station, could you explain what it is and then explain what role it's playing in the Artemis 1 mission? Sure. So Goon Hilly is down in Cornwall

and they offer deep space communications. So they have huge dishes down there which can communicate with spacecraft way beyond Earth orbit. And they provide the service to various space agencies and entities around the world. For the Orion launch, they've been tracking the Orion capsule. And also there's some Cubats which were launched on the same rocket, which Goonhele have been tracking as well, and are tracking as we speak, in fact. So is Goon Hilly involved in future Artemis missions? Yeah, and I think this again is one of the interesting things we're seeing in this new era of exploration. Is Goon Hili are providing these services not as a government-owned facility?

They're actually operating privately. They're privately owned. They're a commercial outfit. And so they're selling these services to space agencies. So that can be through the European Space Agency or directly to NASA. or indeed others. So yeah, they've got quite an important role to play there. And it's quite useful that they are geographically dispersed from other sites in say the US or Australia or elsewhere, because it gives you that greater diversity of signals, which, yeah, gives greater robustness.

So you mentioned there that Goon Hilly is down in the southwest. And also down in the southwest, we have spaceport Cornwall in Newkey. And that's just become the first spaceport to be awarded a license to launch. That's right, yeah. So, A really exciting development, actually. It's something that's been in the offing for a while, but it's quite a complex thing to do, and something we've not done in the UK before. Whilst we've got quite a strong heritage in space engineering,

building satellites and using these satellites, we haven't launched anything into orbit from UK soil ever. So it looks like hopefully one day soon. I won't give you an exact date, but one day soon we will see the first space launch from UK. soil taking off from space port cornwall. And getting that license is really important because that demonstrates that they can do it in a safe and responsible manner and it's overseen by the civil aviation authority who

have oversight of that. So I believe the launch that's planned is going to be on a Boeing 747. So a lot of listeners will have perhaps been on 747s themselves, but I doubt they've got into space. So how does that work? That's right. Yes, you'd be quite worried, wouldn't you, if you found yourself in space when you meant to be flying across the ocean. Yeah, so it's a virgin orbit system, and it's fundamentally the same as any other 747, but with one key difference, and that is that it's got a pylon under one of the wings, basically a big hook, and a launch system is then

attached to that, so a small rocket held under the wing of the 747. It flies, out across the Atlantic, and then once it's flown an hour or two to the west, they'll release the rocket from underneath its wing, and then it then launches from midair into orbit. So you save some of the costs of that initial phase of the rocket launch. And how about plans for other spaceports across the UK? Now that we've got the license for spaceport Cornwall, you know, is this going to open the door for other spaceports? Sure. There's several sites who have announced their intention to seek spaceport licenses, which is really exciting, actually. One of the exciting things we're seeing in the UK, which isn't being done in other countries, is we as government or space

agency aren't dictating where these sites can be. We've said, if you've got the location for a spaceport and you want to build an operator spaceport on a commercial basis, apply for a license, and then you can legally launch things into space. Obviously, the licensing process is quite rigorous to make sure that's done safely. But yeah, we're seeing sites, particularly in the north of Scotland, who will undertake what we colloquially call vertical launches. So that's a more traditional launch from the ground. There's a site in Shetland and one on the north coast of Scotland in Sutherland,

both bidding to host small satellite launches. So you mentioned there the commercial angle to the UK space industry. So would you say the line between government space agent, and private enterprises is getting increasingly blurred? I wouldn't say it's getting blurred, because there will always be a role for government-owned space agencies. There's certain things which only government can do, and indeed only government should do. But I think we're seeing a big opening up of what the commercial sector can offer, and we work closely with the commercial sector, and yeah, the role of government will change

depending on what they're doing. Sometimes we're just making sure it's safe and legal. sometimes government will procure services from the commercial sector. Well, actually, because things are becoming more routine, it makes sense for us to purchase services from a commercial provider rather than try to do it ourselves. But I think there'll always be a clear need for government, particularly in areas like what I work on in space exploration, where we're really pushing the boundaries,

doing cutting-edge research and exploration, which isn't designed to make a profit, but it's designed to increase our knowledge of the solar system and provide technological breakthroughs. Yes, obviously the country's economic situation isn't looking too great at the moment. You know, how big a boost could the space industry provide to the UK economy? Yeah, so it already plays quite a big role. And for every pound we invest in the space industry, we get, we see multiples return on investment in that. So it's not about one of the common misconceptions people have,

that we're spending this money on space and it's just been sent off to Mars. Well, no, that money is spent in the UK. It's providing high school jobs. It's creating new knowledge. It's building new technologies, which then can be spun out into terrestrial industries. So actually, it's a net gain for the UK to invest in in space technologies. So I believe that the UK is also involved in the Lunar Gateway project. That's right, yeah. So, well, we have an important involvement in the Artemis one launch through GOOLE's involvement in that. As we see the Artemis program across the next decade or so developing, we've also got a really important role to play in that. So on the Lunar Gateway, which is going to be a space station in orbit around the moon, so a bit like

the international space station, which you're probably already familiar with, they're orbiting moon instead of the Earth. The UK is building the refueling system for that, which is a really crucial component both for powering the gateway itself and for supporting missions from the gateway down to the lunar surface. So that's a really key part where UK engineering is playing a role. Great. Are there any other exciting projects coming up that you think our listeners would be interested in? So many exciting projects, but I wouldn't want to bore your listeners with all of them. I mean, it really is an exciting time at the moment. And just next week, we will be, along with all the other members of the European Space Agency announcing funding plans for the next phase of space

exploration. And it really runs everything from kind of nuclear power technologies, which the UK has great heritage in, all the way through to in situ resource utilization. So this is how we use material on the lunar surface to create things like oxygen and water. And again, we've got really great capabilities in the UK there, both in industry and in our universities. Yeah, looking further forward to Mars as well, the UK's role, building the ExoMars Rover, Rosalind Franklin. I think that shows our great abilities in the UK for robotics and autonomous exploration of the solar system. So a big decade to come. So, I mean, would you say that the space industry in the UK has got a bright future?

You know, are you optimistic? Absolutely. For me personally, I've been in this sector for 12 years now, and I've seen it grow significantly in that time. and that's through diversifying into parts of space which we didn't do so much before, such as launch, but also through increased investment in areas like Earth observation and telecommunications where there's huge potential still for more growth. And I think in the UK we have quite a healthy approach to this balance between government and commercial provision, which actually I think, yeah, bodes well for the future.

You mentioned the tough economic climate, which we're in at the moment. But actually, I think we have a really good story to tell about how space can play a role in improving our fortunes as a country. Thank you for listening to this episode of Instant Genius. That was the UK Space Agency's Andrew Kuh. The current issue of BBC Science Focus magazine is out now. Pick up a copy wherever you buy your favourite magazines or visit sciencefocus.com. This podcast is sponsored by Name, Audio and Focal. The texture and emotional depth of music can be lost through digital sources or poor signal.

Name Audio believes you can have digital precision with analog warmth. Alongside French acoustic specialist vocal, Name creates high-end audio systems, combining innovation with craftsmanship, so you can listen to music, just as the artist intended. Discover more at Name Audio.com. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank.

Relax and let Ralph's delivery handle your grocery shopping this week. We start with only the freshest items, then review your list and carefully choose each one. Then we pack it all up and deliver it in as little as 30 minutes, so you can feel confident it's what you ordered. Fresh groceries, your way, with Ralph's delivery and pickup. And right now, you can save $20 on your first delivery or pickup order. Ralph's, fresh for everyone.