British Radio Antenna Arrives at Space Station

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The UK's first industrial contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) was delivered on Tuesday.

The communications antenna is part of a consignment of supplies that arrived on a Cygnus freighter.

Made by MDA UK, the Columbus Ka-band (COLKa) Terminal will enable astronauts to connect with scientists and family on Earth at home broadband speeds.

The equipment will be fixed to the exterior of Europe's ISS science module in a few weeks' time. This should improve substantially on current arrangements for radio links.

“At the moment, the communications from Columbus go through the American data relay satellites, but those satellites are prioritised for US use. This gives Europe some independence.”
— David Kenyon, Managing Director of Oxfordshire-based MDA UK