Climate Change Monitoring: Space Technology Company Plans to Launch New Satellite

The UK is set to join Portugal and Spain in a major space project aimed at monitoring climate change and natural disasters. Daniel Sors Raurell of OpenCosmos, a satellite technology firm based in Oxfordshire, will lead the construction of a new pathfinder satellite for the Atlantic Constellation project. The UK Space Agency is providing £3 million for the project, with co-funding from Open Cosmos, which is located on the Harwell Space Campus in Didcot.

The new satellite will provide valuable and regularly updated data on Earth’s climate and natural disasters, helping scientists to better understand these phenomena and reduce their impact on our planet. Andrew Griffith, minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: “Earth observation will play an absolutely vital role in tackling global challenges like climate change and disaster relief, providing the data we need at speed while supporting key UK industries like agriculture and energy.”

By working with Open Cosmos on this new satellite and partnering with Portugal and Spain, the UK can harness space technology to achieve its shared goals of mitigating climate change and reducing the risk of natural disasters. The project also presents an opportunity to create new skills opportunities and jobs for future generations of scientists and engineers.

The announcement was made on the opening day of the UK Space Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where experts from around the world gathered to discuss the latest developments in space exploration and technology.