Surrey Satellite Technology
Company Information
Headquarters
Guildford, England
Year Founded
1985
Industries
Aerospace, Satellite Manufacturing, Earth Observation, Satellite Communications, Navigation, Space Exploration, Defense, Environmental Monitoring
What Is SSTL?
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) is a space technology company specializing in the design, manufacturing, and operation of small satellites and spacecraft systems. Its portfolio includes satellite platforms, Earth observation spacecraft, navigation payloads, and lunar communications technology. SSTL develops modular spacecraft architectures that can accommodate optical cameras, radar instruments, communications equipment, and scientific payloads. The company also provides ground systems, satellite operations, and technical training. Its technologies support commercial satellite constellations, government missions, environmental monitoring, and exploration beyond Earth orbit.
What Does SSTL Do?
SSTL designs and manufactures satellites for customers requiring Earth observation, communications, navigation, scientific research, and technology demonstration missions. Its engineering teams develop spacecraft structures, onboard electronics, payload interfaces, power systems, and flight software.
The company offers modular small satellite platforms that can be configured for different payload sizes and orbital environments. Its SSTL-CUBE, SSTL-MICRO, and SSTL-MINI families provide spacecraft architectures for missions ranging from compact CubeSats to larger observation satellites.
SSTL also develops optical, infrared, and synthetic aperture radar spacecraft used to collect information about Earth’s surface, infrastructure, weather-related events, and environmental conditions.
Beyond spacecraft manufacturing, SSTL provides satellite ground stations, mission planning software, operations services, and customer training. Its Lunar Pathfinder program is developing communications relay infrastructure for spacecraft operating around the Moon and on the lunar surface.
SSTL Technology
SSTL develops satellite platforms, imaging payloads, spacecraft electronics, navigation instruments, and mission operations technology. Its spacecraft architectures combine standardized subsystems with configurable payload interfaces, allowing different missions to use common engineering components while accommodating specialized instruments.
Its SSTL-CUBE, SSTL-MICRO, and SSTL-MINI platforms support missions involving Earth observation, communications, scientific measurements, and technology demonstrations. The platforms incorporate spacecraft power distribution, onboard computing, communications, attitude control, and payload management. SSTL’s centralized avionics approach integrates several spacecraft functions into compact electronics modules.
For Earth observation, SSTL develops optical, multispectral, thermal infrared, and synthetic aperture radar imaging systems. Its Carbonite spacecraft use optical instruments capable of collecting high-resolution images and video. DarkCarb uses mid-wave infrared sensing to observe thermal differences, including at night, while NovaSAR and CarbSAR use radar signals to image Earth’s surface under lighting and weather conditions that can limit conventional optical cameras.
The company also develops GNSS receivers and reflectometry instruments. GNSS reflectometry uses navigation signals transmitted by systems such as GPS and Galileo, analyzing their reflections from Earth’s surface to estimate environmental properties. SSTL’s HydroGNSS satellites apply this technique to measurements associated with soil moisture, wetlands, freeze-thaw conditions, and vegetation.
Its lunar communications technology includes the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft, designed to relay information between lunar surface or orbital assets and Earth. The planned system uses S-band and UHF links for lunar users and an X-band connection to ground stations.
SSTL also supplies ground infrastructure, satellite control software, mission planning systems, and image-processing tools. These technologies support spacecraft operations from launch and commissioning through routine orbital activities and data delivery.
Why SSTL Matters
SSTL contributes to the expansion of satellite services by developing spacecraft platforms that can be adapted to different missions without requiring an entirely new design for every customer. Its modular approach supports organizations building Earth observation constellations, scientific satellites, and communications infrastructure.
Its small satellite manufacturing capabilities have supported operational missions across commercial and government programs. These spacecraft provide data used for environmental monitoring, infrastructure assessment, disaster response, and national security.
The company’s work in radar imaging and GNSS reflectometry extends the types of information that smaller spacecraft can collect, including observations under cloud cover, nighttime thermal measurements, and environmental measurements derived from reflected navigation signals.
Through Lunar Pathfinder and its satellite operations services, SSTL also contributes to communications and operational infrastructure needed for future lunar missions. Its combination of spacecraft manufacturing, payload engineering, and mission support spans several parts of the satellite industry.
SSTL Products & Platforms
SSTL-CUBE
SSTL-CUBE is a compact satellite platform designed for CubeSat missions and customer training programs. Available example configurations include a 12U Earth observation spacecraft and an 8U communications satellite. The platform supports Earth imaging, communications, scientific experiments, and technology demonstrations, providing a spacecraft architecture for smaller payloads.
SSTL-MICRO
SSTL-MICRO is a configurable small satellite platform designed to support payloads requiring greater power, mass capacity, and subsystem redundancy. It uses SSTL’s Core Avionics architecture and can accommodate Earth observation instruments, communications payloads, and scientific equipment. Customers can integrate their own payloads or select mission-specific configurations.
SSTL-MINI
SSTL-MINI is a customizable satellite platform for missions requiring larger payloads and more demanding spacecraft capabilities. It supports high-resolution optical imaging systems and synthetic aperture radar instruments. The platform uses flight-proven avionics and configurable spacecraft structures to accommodate different observation and mission requirements.
Carbonite Earth Observation Spacecraft
Carbonite is SSTL’s family of compact optical Earth observation spacecraft. The platform supports high-resolution imagery and video, including the ability to observe a selected location continuously during a satellite pass. Carbonite-2 demonstrated commercial HD color video from orbit. The spacecraft supports infrastructure monitoring, change detection, and security observation.
DarkCarb Thermal Imaging Satellite
DarkCarb is a mid-wave infrared Earth observation spacecraft designed to detect differences in surface temperature and thermal emissions. Its imaging technology supports day-and-night thermal observation, including urban heat mapping, infrastructure monitoring, and assessments of human activity. The platform is part of SSTL’s thermal imaging technology portfolio.
NovaSAR and CarbSAR
NovaSAR and CarbSAR are synthetic aperture radar spacecraft developed for Earth observation. NovaSAR uses S-band radar and has been operating in orbit since its 2018 launch. CarbSAR uses a compact X-band radar architecture with a deployable antenna, with an in-orbit demonstration launched in January 2026. These systems support radar imaging during day, night, and cloudy conditions.
HydroGNSS
HydroGNSS is an Earth observation mission using GNSS reflectometry to measure environmental conditions. Its satellites analyze reflected navigation signals to estimate variables including soil moisture, wetlands, freeze-thaw conditions, and vegetation biomass. The mission uses reflected GPS and Galileo signals rather than an active radar transmitter to obtain surface measurements.
Lunar Pathfinder
Lunar Pathfinder is a communications relay spacecraft being developed for operations around the Moon. The mission is designed to connect lunar surface and orbital assets with Earth using S-band, UHF, and X-band communications. Planned for launch in 2027, it will also carry navigation and scientific experiments. Its lunar communications relay services are intended to support missions that cannot maintain continuous direct contact with Earth.
SSTL Ground Segment and Satellite Operations
SSTL supplies ground stations, satellite control software, mission planning systems, and data-processing infrastructure. Its services include spacecraft monitoring, command operations, image processing, and technical support. The company’s SSTL Pilot satellite control software is part of its ground infrastructure portfolio.
SSTL Applications
SSTL’s spacecraft and payload technologies support Earth observation, satellite communications, environmental monitoring, defense, and scientific research. Its optical, thermal, and radar imaging systems provide information for infrastructure assessment, disaster response, maritime monitoring, and security operations.
Its GNSS reflectometry instruments support measurements of soil moisture, vegetation, wetlands, and other environmental variables used in climate and hydrological research.
The company’s modular satellite platforms are also used for commercial constellations, technology demonstrations, and spacecraft training programs. Customers can combine SSTL spacecraft hardware with specialized payloads to meet individual mission requirements.
Through Lunar Pathfinder, SSTL is developing communications services for lunar orbiters and surface missions, including operations in regions where direct communication with Earth is limited.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What types of satellites does SSTL manufacture?
SSTL manufactures small satellites for Earth observation, communications, navigation, scientific research, and technology demonstration missions. Its spacecraft platforms include SSTL-CUBE, SSTL-MICRO, and SSTL-MINI. The company also develops specialized spacecraft for optical imaging, thermal observation, synthetic aperture radar, and lunar communications.
What is the difference between SSTL-CUBE, SSTL-MICRO, and SSTL-MINI?
SSTL-CUBE is designed for compact CubeSat missions and engineering training. SSTL-MICRO provides additional payload capacity, power, and subsystem redundancy for small satellite missions. SSTL-MINI supports larger or more demanding payloads, including high-resolution imaging and radar instruments. Each platform can be configured for different mission requirements.
What is SSTL’s Lunar Pathfinder mission?
Lunar Pathfinder is a communications relay satellite designed to operate in lunar orbit. It will provide communication links for spacecraft on or near the Moon, including missions that cannot communicate directly with Earth. The spacecraft is planned for launch in 2027 and will also host navigation and scientific experiments.
Does SSTL build synthetic aperture radar satellites?
Yes. SSTL developed NovaSAR, an S-band synthetic aperture radar satellite launched in 2018, and CarbSAR, an X-band radar technology demonstration launched in January 2026. These spacecraft use radar signals to collect Earth observation imagery during day or night and through cloud cover, supporting maritime monitoring, infrastructure assessment, and security applications.
How many satellites has SSTL launched?
In October 2026, SSTL announced that HotSat-3 had become its 80th delivered satellite and marked the company’s 50th launch. The spacecraft was built for SatVu and carries a mid-wave infrared imaging payload. It is designed to collect thermal information about infrastructure and other targets on Earth.
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