Prof Sir Martin Sweeting, OBE | Debrett's 500 2015

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, OBE

Executive Chairman, Surrey Satellite Technology

Martin Sweeting is a world leader in microsatellites, renowned for his pioneering concept of low-cost, rapid response, small satellites. He heads Surrey Satellite Technology, the company he founded in 1985, and which has designed, constructed, launched and operates a number of satellites in orbit for the purposes of earth observation and imaging, scientific research, navigation, telecommunications and defence. Inspired by the 1969 lunar landing and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, he decided to design a satellite while studying for his PhD. This was a remarkable feat, partly because he knew nothing about building satellites and partly because the satellite weighed a mere 72kg at a time when others were the size of buses. In 2015 he was made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.