Professor Sir Martin Sweeting

Starting in 1979, Professor Sir Martin Sweeting pioneered rapid-response, low-cost and highly capable small satellites utilizing modern consumer (COTS) electronics devices to change the economics of space and is widely regarded internationally as the ‘father of small satellites ’that has since led to ‘NewSpace’.

In 1985, he founded a spin-off University company (SSTL) which has designed, built, launched and operated in orbit 71 nano, micro and mini-satellites for communications, Earth observation, space science and demonstration of active space debris removal techniques – as well as 34 navigation payloads for the European Galileo constellation. The company has grown to ~400 staff with over £1.5bn in UK export earnings from some 25 international customers.

He is a distinguished professor at the Surrey Space Centre comprising a team of ~90 academic faculty and doctoral researchers investigating advanced small satellite concepts and techniques, acting as the research laboratory for SSTL – an exemplar of real academic-commercial synergy. He has supervised over 200 graduated PhD students and has over 350 publications.

Sir Martin was knighted by HM the Late Queen in 2006. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Physics. He has received numerous awards, including the Royal Institute of Navigation Gold Medal and the prestigious von Karman Wings Award from CalTech/JPL in the USA.