SpaceWire, a new innovative communications network for use onboard satellites and other spacecraft has been developed from research led by the University of Dundee. SpaceWire is soon to become a European Space Agency (ESA) standard and is currently being installed on several NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) spaceships to support onboard communications during space missions.
A SpaceWire network connects together many of the electronic units onboard a spacecraft and can send information between them at high speeds. The units could be a telescope monitoring the Earth's oceans or some other type of scientific sensor, a large memory for storing the data gathered, computers for processing the data and controlling the spacecraft, or the radio communications sub-system that is used to receive commands from Earth and send data to ground stations. Data or control information may be passed from one unit to another. Time information is also distributed over the network.
This technology for communicating in outer space is being developed by Dr Steve Parkes and his Space Systems Research Group at the University of Dundee who have just secured SMART funding from the Scottish Executive to support STAR Dundee, the University's latest spin out company based on this research.
STAR-Dundee was set up to commercialise the research of the Space Systems Research Group, in particular the SpaceWire activities. Dr Steve Parkes, the leader of the research group and the Managing Director of STAR-Dundee, was the author of the SpaceWire standard document and is widely recognised as the world-leading expert on SpaceWire technology.
STAR-Dundee is currently producing hardware and software products to support the development of SpaceWire systems by ESA, NASA and other organisations developing equipment for use in space. The SMART award will enable STAR-Dundee Ltd to develop essential test equipment for the users of SpaceWire technology.
Contact Dr Steve Parkes 01382 345194
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk