Postcards from Space

Postcards from Space: Welcome

Whether it’s small satellite development or designing the next piece of space technology to enter into orbit, members of QinetiQ’s space business have produced a series of blogs reflecting on their work that supports our ever increasing range of space programmes.

The popularity of our ‘Postcards from Space’ blogs prompted us to publish the full collection in a special compendium for the first time.

This publication provides a glimpse of the specialist skills and breadth of expertise that has underpinned our success in the space sector over the past six decades. It also gives an indication of the passion and great sense of personal pride that shines brightly in every corner of the business as we rise to new challenges that are truly at the cutting edge of space technologies, research and exploration.

A common thread through all of the ‘Postcards’ is just how much can be achieved through effective partnership and collaboration. Whether it’s extending the capabilities and possibilities of human space exploration, improving the performance and potential of satellite technology or the development of increasingly sophisticated systems integration and space experimentation, QinetiQ is continuing to lead by example. Our commitment to mission-led innovation means that our focus is on those areas, those processes and those technologies that make a significant and measurable difference to our customers.

With our specialist teams working closely with a growing list of like-minded partners, the ‘Postcards from Space’ demonstrate how we are delivering the best possible operational outcomes for customers and end users across all areas of our space business. They also help to explain why everyone here at QinetiQ is looking to the future with a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement as, we know from our own experience, there is no limit on the possibilities, achievements and discoveries that lie ahead.

Our collection of postcards will be updated regularly, so keep an eye out below! Don't forget to download our 'Postcards from Space' brochure, which also features a number of thought leadership articles.

Download Postcards from Space Brochure

Interested in working for QinetiQ's Space team?

Working for QinetiQ's space team

QinetiQ’s space division works in a variety of spatial projects: satellites, science instruments, life support systems, baffles, docking systems… Our employees explain how it is to work with such out of this world projects!

Postcards from Space

A Proven Record for Delivering Data

On 22 October 2001, the PROBA-1 satellite was launched into space in a low Earth orbit. Although it was originally planned as a one-year mission, the satellite has provided data successfully ever since its launch ….and it is still going strong!

BioHarvest, Biorat 1 and GreenLung - breaking new ground in life support and air quality

The Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative initiative (MELiSSA), led by by the European Space Agency, aims to supply astronauts on long space missions with oxygen, water and food from waste recycling.

Complete qualification for our solar array deployment mechanism for our P200 platform

Providing electrical energy to the most power-demanding missions is the work of deployable solar panels. We designed and developed a modular-based deployable mechanism capable of withstanding the loads of a large variety of launchers and opening the

One Step Closer to Defending Earth from Asteroids

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will crash into Dimorphos - a 550 kg asteroid - to try to change the rock’s orbit. The ESA will send the HERA spacecraft in 2024 to further observe the impacted asteroid.

Postcards from Space Artemiss Oxygen Production in Space

How can we make human deep space travel a reality? Having the air to breathe is certainly one element that will support this.

Postcards from Space: Characterising Exoplanets

CHEOPS is the European Space Agency’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite.

Postcards from Space: December launches and a decade of experiments in space

December marked the end of a successful year for QinetiQ’s space business with two different rockets launched into space – both with new, state-of-the-art QinetiQ hardware on board.

Postcards from space: Human centrifuge receives an upgrade

In 2005 and 2007, the QinetiQ space team in Belgium was given the task of building two short arm human centrifuges (SAHC) for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Postcards from Space: ICAPS launch a great success!

Friday November 15th, 2019 saw the successful launch of the Interaction in Cosmic and Atmospheric Particle System (ICAPS) from Sweden.

Postcards from Space: Ion thrusters

When developing truly pioneering technologies, the ability to rise to new challenges is just half the story.

Postcards from Space: Life Support Technology to support long-distance space travel

Long-distance crewed space missions for exploration of new habitats might be a reality within just a few decades. These challenging activities require the development of adequate solutions for space crafts, energy supply, communication systems, and L

Postcards from Space: Looking back to fly forward

Recently I wrote about the state-of-the-art instrumentation we have provided for material science experiments on the International Space Station and the recent launch of a new satellite to search for new exoplanets.

Postcards from Space: Planetary Defence

HERA, named after the Greek goddess of marriage, is an European Space Agency (ESA) mission to characterise the binary asteroid Didymos; a 780 m-diameter main body orbited by a 160m moon called Didymoon.

Postcards from Space: Remembering the Launch of PROBA-V

It is often said that the second spacecraft a company builds is the hardest. In our case the third one, PROBA-V, is competing with the second one (PROBA-2) for being most challenging.

Postcards from Space: SODI – A decade in orbit

The Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument, or SODI for short, is a scientific instrument to study fundamental fluid science in weightlessness made by QinetiQ’s team in Belgium.

Postcards from Space: Taking Heat Transfer Research to a New Level

QinetiQ’s latest experiment facility for space is the European Space Agency’s Heat Transfer Host 2 – a programme that has now reached a significant development milestone.

Postcards from Space: The Alloys Age

Rocket launches are always special, but they are even more special when they carry hardware you and your team have worked on.

Postcards from Space: The Dark Side

Euclid of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician who is considered the father of geometry.

Postcards from Space: The Importance of Secure Communications

With ever-increasing connectivity and digitalisation, the need for resilient, robust and secure information processing, situational awareness and communications is not just important.

Postcards from Space: The next generation of small satellites

Following the success of the reliable and adaptable PROBA satellites, we designed and developed the next generation of satellites to define the future of PROBA-like missions and spacecraft.

Revolutionary low impact docking solution ticks all of the right boxes

Developing a reliable and resilient berthing and docking solution that offers improved control, faultless capture, and optimum safety was just part of the challenge facing QinetiQ as the European Space Agency’s prime contractor

SaRY Project to Help Develop Circular Life Support Systems in Space and On Earth

The SaRY (Salinity Reduction of Yellow Waters) activity started on September 1st 2021 in the frame of the MELiSSA project of the European Space Agency (ESA). MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) is the European project of circul