National Oceanography Centre joins UK-led HydroGNSS ‘New Space’ mission for Global Science

A new low-cost Earth Observation mission developed with the support of National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has been launched into orbit. 

Scientists at NOC have played a key role in developing the technology behind HydroGNSS, a pioneering satellite mission that embodies the ‘New Space’ ethos of achieving major scientific advances with smaller budgets and faster delivery schedule. 

Designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and backed by £26 million in funding from the UK Space Agency, it is the first mission in the European Space Agency (ESA) Scout initiative within the FutureEO Earth Science programme. 

HydroGNSS is a twin-satellite mission that will collect reflected signals from multiple GPS and Galileo navigation satellites to measure Essential Climate Variables related to the Earth’s water cycle over the land, and provide global observations of ocean surface winds and sea ice extent. 

Launched on Friday 28 November onboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, HydroGNSS marks a major milestone in environmental monitoring by demonstrating how innovative, low-cost missions can deliver sustainable observing systems from space. 

At the heart of the mission is a cutting-edge sensing approach known as GNSS Reflectometry, which captures signals from existing navigation satellites after they bounce off the Earth’s surface. 

NOC scientists have collaborated with SSTL and partners from ESA, Italy, Spain, Finland and UK over many years to develop this technology. It offers significant advantages in satellite mass, power efficiency, and cost, while enabling all-weather, day-and-night observations, even through heavy rain or dense forests. 

Professor Christine Gommenginger, who leads NOC’s research in GNSS Reflectometry, said: “Missions like HydroGNSS will give us access to more detailed and more frequent measurements, which will be crucial to understanding processes involved in extreme weather events like hurricanes, and interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere and land that relate to changes in the global water cycle. 

“This mission marks the success of a long-term collaboration and celebrates the achievements of strong industry-academia partnership fostered between NOC, SSTL and the wider international science community. 

“As the first ESA Scout mission to be launched, HydroGNSS represents the start of the new era of ‘New Space’, where affordable innovative technology can deliver high-value environmental data to help scientists better understand our planet’s rapidly changing climate system.” 

The HydroGNSS mission highlights the UK’s industrial and scientific excellence in satellite innovation and climate monitoring. 

Dr Martin Unwin, the HydroGNSS Industrial Principal Investigator at SSTL, added “HydroGNSS is able to achieve radar performance from a small satellite thanks to exploitation of GNSS signal reflections, first investigated by SSTL and NOC over twenty years ago, and it offers a new data source for climate-related hydrology and oceanography. We look forward to working with NOC and partners on new applications expected to be discovered over land, ice and water as a result of HydroGNSS.”
 

Space Minister Liz Lloyd said: "The launch of HydroGNSS is yet another success story for British space innovation. Backed with government funding, this UK-built satellite will play an invaluable role up in space, helping tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges we face on Earth.
 

"As we build the UK's space capabilities, groundbreaking missions like HydroGNSS demonstrate that Britain is at the forefront of space technology that delivers real-world impact for people and our planet."