Cork firm wins Chinese spaceflight contract

A CORK firm is to provide cutting-edge technology to China’s spaceflight programme.

Farran Technology, based in Ballincollig, will today sign what is believed to be a multi-million euro contract with the Shanghai Spaceflight Institute to develop an imaging system for Chinese FY-3 radar satellites.

The contract will be signed in Shanghai as part of the Irish trade mission to China, which ends at the weekend in Hong Kong. FY refers to “fengyun”, which means “wind and cloud.” The numeral refers to the fact that this is the third generation of FY satellites. They are so named because they are used for meteorological purposes. China has launched a number of them in recent years.

Because Beijing hosts the Olympics in 2008, the Chinese leadership is preparing to launch a number of additional FY-3 satellites in advance so that organisers of the games will be able to predict the weather.

The satellites will deliver precise information 24 hours a day, providing early warnings in the case of developing rain-, thunder- or sandstorms. They will also be used for research purposes. The Spaceflight Institute is hoping they will “contribute essential information to a global understanding of the earth’s climate.”

Under the terms of the contract, Farran will deliver its imaging system technology in three stages over the next 16 months. Work on the contract has already got under way at its plant.

Farran is a small company which employs about 30 people, carrying out “hi-tech research and low-volume manufacturing”, according to a spokesman. He declined to reveal the value of the deal until such time as it is actually closed today, but acknowledged that it would be “a large contract.”

Farran’s technology is used in an array of devices and equipment, including radios, radar, sensors, plasma diagnostics, spectroscopy, atmospheric monitoring, and more.

Apart from their use predicting the weather, meteorological satellites are commonly used in oceanography, agriculture, forestry, hydrology and national defence.

In 2003, the country launched an astronaut into space for the first time. Last night, Chinese media reported that two more astronauts could launch as early as September on a five-day mission to orbit the earth.