A Scottish University has been awarded funding to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that will enhance safety in outer space.
The University of Strathclyde is to share in a £20m pot from the UK Space Agency to help develop tech which will keep astronauts safe by scanning for incoming objects such as debris or meteors.
The money was awarded under the first phase of the UK Space Agency’s £20 million International Bilateral Fund investments, which is aimed at helping British organisations link up with the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, Singapore, South Africa.
Strathclyde is one of only two Scottish universities and 32 projects to secure a share of the initial £2.1 million available from a total of 125 applications.
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The ultimate goal of the AI for Space Safety and Sustainability project is to set up an International Institute on AI for Space Safety and Sustainability that will accelerate the development of AI technologies from concept, at early technology readiness levels, to adoption in the space sector.
Strathclyde will work with others including Arizona University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Waterloo and Canadian company Columbiad Launch Services Inc to lay the foundations of such an Institute.
The Aerospace Centre of Excellence forms part of Strathclyde's Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. Current research includes space systems and flight mechanics, applied through three laboratories.
Professor Massimiliano Vasile, Professor of Space Systems Engineering and Director of the Aerospace Centre of Excellence, in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Strathclyde, said: “The project aims to demonstrate the impact of a selected number of emerging AI technologies on the sustainability of the space sector.
"This includes: Digital Operations Assistants, Space Object Classification and Characterisation, Space Object Behavioural Analysis, Collision Avoidance Automation, Autonomous Close Proximity Operations.
“However, there are many more areas of application in which AI can play a key role."
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Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Working with other space agencies and organisations across the globe through our International Bilateral Fund allows us to draw on skills that enhance our homegrown expertise and capabilities, drive up investment in the UK, and support world-class science and discovery.
“Projects such as these highlight the many ways in which we can collaborate with the global space community to help humanity push the boundaries of space innovation and unlock commercial opportunities that will benefit our economy now and in the future.”
Almost one fifth of all jobs within the UK space sector are based within the growing Scottish space industry.
Glasgow is already established as Europe's leading satellite manufacturing zone, producing more small satellites than any other city or centre on the continent. Scotland is also a data hub, hosting the largest centre for informatics in Europe and more than 170 data science companies.
There are currently five spaceports in development across the country with vertical orbital launches from Shetland and Sutherland scheduled to take place in 2023. Spaceport1 in the Western Isles is targeting suborbital launch in 2023 with plans for bases in Prestwick and Machrihanish also on course.
The plans would establish Scotland as the 'leading European space nation', providing 20,000 jobs in the sector by 2030.
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