Insight | So what exactly does an Inmarsat Spacecraft Analyst do?
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World Space Week is an UN-backed initiative that provides an excellent opportunity to bring people together in over 50 nations to celebrate accomplishments in space, as well as inspire and educate young people about the space and technology careers open to them.
I’ve had an interest in space from a very young age; where most of my friends had posters of football teams, my childhood bedroom was covered with Space Shuttle posters, glow-in-the-dark constellations and science-fiction novels.
I was seven when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster unfolded on BBC Children’s Newsround TV programme which, while tragic, also reinforced a sense of the heroism and dedication that the human space programme demanded.
Later, I realised that there was much more to space than just the high-profile human missions and became interested in the interplanetary and science missions, and the way that communications technology via satellite was changing the way we saw the world.
Today I am lucky to do a job I love within this industry, working as a Senior Spacecraft Analyst in the Satellite and Network Operations team at Inmarsat’s London HQ. My job involves managing the health and performance of our family of 12 satellites, responding to unexpected or emergency situations that may arise in their operations, planning for and coordinating future operations, and providing analysis and reporting on how well they are doing.
Our satellites are monitored 24/7/365 by our spacecraft controllers and the spacecraft analysts provide on-call support to deal with anything unusual that might crop up, such as any unexpected behaviour of the satellite subsystems. Should there be a problem, the controller gets an audible alarm along with details of the unexpected result, and then escalates this to my team.
A recent example was the effects of a lunar eclipse – when the moon obscures the sunlight reaching the satellites’ solar panels. This required proactive planning and analysis to predict what kinds of effects to expect and, of course, an element of reactivity due to the unusual conditions this caused.
The best parts of my job are generally those where I find myself deep in a problem-solving situation and, after some grappling with the evidence, coming up with an explanation and then working with the wider team to resolve it. I was brought up as a child on a diet of Sherlock Holmes (my father’s an avid fan) so I love the detective work!
Satellite communications have helped the world discover just how similar human wants and needs are across the world. When you can report ‘live’ on important news and cultural events across the planet, it is hard to maintain the exaggerated sense of ‘them and us,’ which pervades much of our history.
I was privileged to have several inspiring teachers and influencers in my life, which has led me to the job I do today. Teachers fuelled my interest in maths and physics and I started to think about a career in the space industry during my undergraduate years.
Today, through STEMNET, I am a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) ambassador myself, working with schools and universities to encourage a whole new generation of children to think about space and space-enabled technology, and the career possibilities open to them.
I’ve run experimental workshops at schools on subjects such as launching water rockets, and have been involved in an engineering education scheme, mentoring sixth formers to develop ideas and prototypes for real engineering problems in the space industry. Most recently I helped develop and run the Inmarsat Summer Strategy Challenge with City & Islington College in London.
Basically I get involved in all that I can to share my enthusiasm for this field and want to encourage as many people as possible into STEM education and careers.
My biggest piece of advice to young people today? Take things apart and learn to code! Far too many of the technologies available are hermetically sealed units running software that is proprietary and completely closed to closer inspection. To gain instincts that will help you understand the behaviour of existing technologies and build better ones for tomorrow, you will need to know how to break things and fix them.
John Burley joined Inmarsat as Spacecraft Analyst towards the end of 2009, from Airbus Defence & Space (ADS) in Toulouse, where he worked on the operations of Eurostar 3000 satellites. This included supporting the payload engineering team on the Inmarsat-4s. Prior to that John worked at ADS in Stevenage as a graduate engineer on the Skynet 5 satellites.
John studied Natural Sciences leading to a Masters in Experimental and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, before completing a Masters in Space Studies at the International Space University in Strasbourg.
