Space Autonomy Day marks launch of City St George’s state-of-the-art robotics facility to drive innovation • City St George's, University of London

The launch of the Hardware-In-The-Loop Robotics Facility was attended by the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency and industry stakeholders, and will support the next generation of space technologies.

By Dr Shamim Quadir (Senior Communications Officer), Published Tuesday, 23^rd September 2025

On Tuesday 16 September, City St George’s, University of London launched its new Hardware-In-The-Loop Robotics Facility, led by Professor Nabil Aouf, Director of the University’s Autonomy of Systems Research Centre.

The new facility comes with a wide range of equipment to support the UK and international space industry build, guide and control the autonomous satellites and other spacecraft, of the future.

Welcoming the stakeholders from industry, the public sector and press to the event, Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, President of the University, shared in part:

We’re proud to mark the launch our new ISAM [In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing] Hardware-in the-Loop testing facility. This is a state of the art, national resource which will enable the testing and validation of next generation space technologies and represents a significant step in supporting both academic research and industrial innovation, and indeed the convergence of these.
By hosting this space autonomy day, we aim to highlight City St George’s expanding role in shaping the UK’s strategic capabilities in space and to open new pathways for engagement with our partners in research, industry and in government.

Invited guest, Matthew Archer, Director of Launch at the UK Space Agency, then shared what the agency does, context to the wider ISAM market and why it is important.

He reminded his audience that as well as ISAM, his role is also responsible for the agency’s work in space sustainability. He stressed the importance of the space sector to the UK economy, growing at a rate of five per cent year on year, adding about 1,000 people to the workforce annually.

Professor Asa Barber, Head of Engineering at the University’s School of Science & Technology then shared what the launch means to the Department of Engineering and its students.

He reflected on how many of the students in the department are the first in their family to go to university and shared how the department is nationally leading in the social mobility it adds to its students.

He shared:

It struck me, when I heard Sir Anthony coming to the room, two words he said, which were ‘space’ and ‘robots’, and I think that is an exciting strapline! We’ve spoken about the national importance [of the new facility], but we’re also a university that educates the engineers of the future. I think these types of activities have a very high profile for these future engineers.

Professor Aouf then proceeded to outline the technical aspects of the launch event:

Internationally, we are one of the leaders in the autonomy of space systems, so you will find out more about our projects and the work we do here first, before proceeding onto the facility that we are launching today, and further, outstanding facilities that are available here at City St George’s.

He followed with a lecture on his team’s space autonomy research in the areas of both autonomous perception and navigation by satellites and other spacecraft, and also the autonomous guidance and control of those craft.

This encompassed the introduction of the concept of space autonomy, along with instances showcasing the high-quality profile of projects, including their technical specifications and innovations within the field.

The centre possesses expertise in Orbital Space Autonomy, Landers/Rovers Space Autonomy, and Space Observations/Awareness Autonomy, and Professor Aouf demonstrated how AI enhances the degree of autonomy in these space endeavours.

David Stupples, Professor of Electronic & Radio Engineering also of Autonomy of Systems Research Centre, then spoke about his research at the Centre using radar.

He highlighted his work on the Deep-Space Advanced Surveillance System (DASS) set up by government in 2023, which can see from radar systems on earth to a distance of about 36,000 kilometres into space. This is the height at which geostationary satellites orbit the earth – satellites that do not move their position relative to its surface. Professor Stupples shared how deep space radar works, and reminded his audience of how the world’s commerce relies on geostationary satellites.

He also warned of the growing dangers of debris left out in space by the aerospace industry, with there being 130 million pieces of debris in the range of earth orbiting satellites. While most of these are smaller than one centimetre in diameter and defensible by satellite shielding, commenting on the larger debris he said:

I’ve got here an example piece of debris of two centimetres [square]. At four kilometres a second, if this hits you it would probably be like a hand-grenade. It would certainly rip through your body and it would also destroy a satellite. Can I see debris of this size using my radar from earth, at a distance of 36,000 kilometres? That’s a challenge isn’t it, but that’s what we need to try and do.

After the Centre lectures, attendees were divided into small groups and provided visits to its Autonomy Labs with demonstrations and a guided tour of the newly launched Hardware-In-The-Loop Robotics Facility, located in the deep in the belly of the University’s Tait Building.

Highlights from the tour

Reflecting on the launch event, Matthew Archer, Director of Launch, UK Space Agency, said:

I thought the day was fantastic. Really valuable in understanding the cutting-edge research being done here at the University and the facility downstairs, which I think will serve the sector extremely well in developing a range of ISAM [In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing] capabilities. Very impressed with today!

Massimo Casasco, Head of the Guidance Navigation and Control Section at European Space Agency (ESA), reflected:

It’s a real pleasure to see how City St George’s facilities are expanding. We’ve been working with them since 2014, and it’s always been a nice collaboration. Really. Tackling new concepts and finding new solutions together and doing that in the mix of an academic set up, but in concert with industry. It’s actually so important, essential, to bring the two together. With this facility I think we can now see industrial level applications come to the lab.

Anushka Sharma, Liaison Manager, Space Academic Network (SPAN) said:

It was wonderful to be here today to hear about the incredible work that the University is doing at the intersection of space and innovation. It was fantastic to see the arena, and all the work that has been done, with the drones and where the recent NATO competition took place last year. It was particularly interesting to see the close proximity RPO [Rendezvous and Promixity Operations] demonstration with the incredible kit and the collaboration with industry: the RAFTI mechanism from Orbit Fab and the work of the students and the team here at City St George’s.