A Royal Visit to Goonhilly: recognising Cornwall’s pioneering place in the evolution of the UK space industry

21st October 2022

On Friday 21st October, a visit by HRH The Princess Royal to Goonhilly Earth Station, Cornwall, gave her an opportunity to learn about the site’s recent revival and to take a trip up the company’s 32m deep space antenna, GHY-6, upgraded in 2021.

The UK’s gateway to space, Goonhilly Earth Station is the world’s only commercial deep space ground station and has been instrumental to telecommunications development and space activity for six decades. Today, the site is a leading centre for near-Earth and deep space communications.

As part of the visit, The Princess Royal was able to learn about Goonhilly’s upcoming support for NASA’s pivotal Artemis-I Mission, which is due to launch in November and will mark the beginning of a new phase of lunar exploration. As part of the mission, Goonhilly will be responsible for tracking the uncrewed Orion capsule and, alongside partner ESA, communicating with a number of small satellites being launched on the mission. 

As well as this, Goonhilly are partners in the UK's first orbital space launch, due to also take place in November from Spaceport Cornwall. They are supporting the historic ‘Start Me Up’ mission by conducting mission readiness testing in the lead up to launch, as well as providing live telemetry data to Virgin Orbit during the mission itself - tracking Cosmic Girl, Virgin Orbit’s launch carrier aircraft, as the crew release the LauncherOne rocket. This activity will take place, in-part, from a portable tracking station, specially-designed by Goonhilly and set up at Spaceport Cornwall. 

Goonhilly has also been supporting the mission’s IOD 3 Amber™ satellite, prior to its launch from the Spaceport. The payload, developed by Satellite Applications Catapult and Horizon Technologies, will monitor marine activities such as illegal fishing and piracy. Goonhilly has already supported Catapult with testing and preparations for the operations phase. It is now due to provide tracking and communications during the satellite’s launch, and will also run its daily mission operations from the Operational Control Area at Goonhilly HQ. 

Ahead of these key missions, and on Goonhilly’s 60th anniversary year, The Princess Royal’s visit to Goonhilly Earth Station was a moment to celebrate the site’s role in the development of the UK space industry and share more about the company’s plans for international expansion. 



About Goonhilly

Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. is a privately-owned SME, operating Goonhilly Earth Station – the trusted ground station of choice for many of the world’s major satellite operators. Benefitting from resilient large-scale networks and infrastructure, expert 24/7 support, and an optimal geographic location, it offers a range of satellite services including uplink and broadcast, gateway operations, TT&C, carrier monitoring, and more.

Since 2019, the company has expanded its services to the Moon and beyond – providing lunar and deep-space communications links to spacecraft operated by international agencies and private enterprises. Goonhilly has recently supported Mars Express, Gaia, and Integral, and will soon provide communications services for the Artemis-I cube-sats and Orion capsule, amongst several other high-profile missions.

With in-depth experience ranging from space communications services to consultancy, Space Domain Awareness, manufacturing, and training – Goonhilly plays a critical role in supporting missions from around the world, securing its international reputation as the “UK’s Gateway to Space”.