While we are getting through the coronavirus, its repercussions on the economy are bound to linger for some time. The UK government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt (MHCLG) has taken this into account to announce new funding for jump starting projects. These projects are aimed at helping recover local areas from the impact of COVID-19. Under the funding, £59M (€65.6 million) of projects across Cornwall will share £14.3M (€15.9 million) of Getting Building Fund investment, supporting 1,100 jobs.
Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station awarded £996,817
One of the notable funding from MHCLG’s new funding goes to the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station. It has been awarded £996,817 (€1.1M) from the Government’s ‘Getting Building Fund’ for its new Cornwall Institute for Space AI and Receiver Factory. Goonhilly will also be working with the University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Leeds and University of Hertfordshire.
“A space ‘AI’ institute and receiver factory at Goonhilly Earth Station. A £3.77m project led by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd will involve commercial operators across sectors including space, data science, and high-performance computers as well as a consortium of leading universities to progress innovation in space-related artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, machine learning and advanced manufacturing. The investment will lead to manufacturing and specialist test facilities at Goonhilly for deep space, radio astronomy, and space telecommunication receivers for new and existing markets across the UK and internationally,” the official release states.
Solving interconnected problems with collated resources
Located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England, the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a radiocommunication site. Goonhilly will feature a space for companies that can use the facilities and work with the team on various ideas. One of such ideas is delving into different fields of study such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and radio astronomy, which are interconnected. The team will develop algorithms in one field and apply it to solve problems across other fields as well.
The new Receiver Factory acts as an advanced manufacturing facility that can be used to develop Goonhilly’s own equipment. This in-house manufacturing helps ensure its services are up to the quality it holds, and also to build products to print for third parties. The scientists working at Goonhilly contribute their knowledge of antenna design, space communications, electronics, software and mechanical engineering to develop advanced products for space communication and other related sectors.
Ian Jones, Chief Executive of Goonhilly Earth Station, says, “The Getting Building Fund will support a unique opportunity to bring together the important existing telecommunications assets at Goonhilly alongside investment in state-of-the-art testing and manufacturing. This is an important move forward in Cornwall’s ‘space’ journey developing new capabilities in invention, build and production for a growing global market. This will establish Goonhilly as the premier UK site for satellite receiver manufacture combined with innovation in artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
Image credits: Goonhilly Earth Station on Twitter
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