Speaker - Stuart Mills on Spacecraft Networking

President Jim Allison introduced Dr Stuart Mills as the online speaker for the evening.

Stuart had no problem whatsoever in coping with the technical aspects of a Zoom meeting as he and his Dundee company are the prime engineers supplying extremely complicated technological systems to almost every satellite circulating above us all.

Star-Dundee was formed by a group of Dundee University students, primarily Stuart and Steve Parkes. Nowadays Stuart is the CEO and Steve has the title of Chief Operations Officer.

Back in 2000 they devised what Stuart described as “a little device”, which went on to be a cable system providing telemetry of various kinds. Eventually, some 25 billion dollars worth of spacecraft came to rely upon it.

The Dundee company’s technology is currently fitted to more than 100 operating satellites, launched by a number of European countries, Japan, the USA and more.

All kinds of satellites are used to provide data on climatic conditions, ice melting at the Poles, or monitoring volcanic activity. The company’s products allow all of this to be collated and communicated.

Stuart’s workforce of 24 staff – 85% of whom are technical wizards – are presently working on many new projects. Partly in partnership with Dundee University, they are devising innovative technology which will upgrade their existing systems. One such innovation is at the moment in a circulating satellite, has also been installed in one which is launching in three weeks time, and others are in the pipeline.

Stuart said they claimed to be “experts in this area of the space industry”. Given what they were hearing and learning, none of the audience were inclined to disagree!

With an ethos of sourcing supplies and employees solely within the UK, Star-Dundee have been reformed as a partnership trust. Employees have therefore become owners of their business, based in Star House in Dundee’s Nethergate.

George McIntosh – who described himself as “a real Trekkie” – thanked Stuart for a memorable and inspiring presentation.