UK Space Agency joins EISCAT international space observatory

EISCAT operates four radar sites across Norway, Sweden and Finland, and it studies the ionosphere, the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere which forms the boundary with outer space. It is also the altitude at which many satellites used for communications and navigation are found, and changes to the ionosphere can affect their lifespan and how they perform.

Investment

Breaking down the funding package, a £100,000 agreement to make the UKSA an associate member of the  organisation (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) will gain access to its ionosphere sensing and observation capabilities

A further £5m will be invested in UK scientific institutions, such as the National Oceanographic Centre and the UK Hydrographic Organisation, to boost understanding of Arctic weather and oceans as part of a project led by the Met Office.

And £535k will be invested in joint research projects with Greenland and another £340k in UK-Iceland bursaries to build long-term researcher-to-researcher links on polar issues. The British Antarctic Survey will lead on both these programmes.

Closer ties

In the announcement, the UK government highlighted the country’s close relationship with scandinavia – for science and the environment, as well as to energy security and trade.

Norway supplies around a third of the UK’s gas, and has close ties with the UK – from a Memorandum of Understanding on science, to a Free Trade Agreement, said Science Minister Andrew Griffith.

“Our new UKSA affiliation to EISCAT is further evidence of the UK’s leadership on space sustainability, and what we can achieve working hand-in-hand with our closest partners,” said Griffith. “It will unlock insights about the ionosphere helping us to keep UK satellites safe, which in turn is critical to sustaining our communications, navigation, and more.

“Through partnerships like this, as well as the National Space Strategy and our re-entry to the Copernicus Earth Observation programme, we are making the long-term decisions to build one of the most attractive and innovative space economies in the world.”

The Science Minister attended the Arctic Frontiers Conference and announced the package of UK-funded polar science programmes as part of the trip.

EISCAT

The scientific association writes:

“The EISCAT UHF system was designed as a tristatic radar, that is, three facilities that work together. These are located in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In Norway there are two different EISCAT facilities that work in UHF and VHF. Recently the remote sites in Finland and Sweden were converted to the VHF frequency. The Heating facility is also located in Norway.”

Formed in 1976, the members of EISCAT are: China, France, Finland, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Image: EISCAT/Johan Svensson – EISCAT3D Skiboten, Norway

See also: Norwegian Andøya Spaceport opens for Isar satellite launches