A UK Space Agency project being trialled on remote rural railways in Scotland aims to improve broadband speed and reliability.

The project to improve broadband will be carried out by the technology company CGI through its SODOR Rail Satellite Communication System, which will be trialled on the West Highland Line, one of the most scenic and remote routes in Scotland.

SODOR is designed to provide reliable connectivity to trains in areas where traditional mobile networks are often unreliable.

Another benefit is to trial whether introducing satellite connectivity on all of Britain’s trains will improve the availability and connection speeds for passengers.

The SODOR trial, along with 15 others, is part of the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunication Systems (ARTES) programme, and is being funded with £13 million in UK Government funding.

The UK space sector employs more than 55,000 people. It is one of the country’s strongest drivers of growth and opportunity, benefitting the economy by £18.6 billion every year.

The project is designed to support innovators who are developing faster, smarter, and more secure satellite systems to keep Britain safe and its economy moving.

Other ARTES projects include STARS, a development of ultra-fast satellite communications technology by Exobotics Ltd, designed to deliver the first in a planned network of satellites that will relay data between satellites and the ground much quicker, and projects to improve deep space and lunar communications, supporting future UK missions to explore the universe.

Other beneficiaries from the project are in agriculture, where the GAUFF project from the Farmer Charlie company is developing a system to provide farmers with real-time data on their land and crops through affordable satellite-enabled sensors.

A benefit will be that the data will help farms produce better harvests with less waste, and the technology is expected to be available by the end of summer next year.

Last year, Network Rail awarded a contract to the Earth Observation Company SatSense to monitor the UK’s entire rail network using satellite Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology.

Also last year, six Class 158s on services from Inverness to Wick, Kyle of Lochalsh, Aberdeen, and Thurso were fitted with satellite technology for trials of using a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network for better WiFi connectivity.

”This investment shows the true breadth of UK space innovation and how innovations in the UK’s satellite sector can improve lives, with better connectivity delivering internet access for more train journeys, and smarter farming. through more reliable connections through to support for our farming communities. By backing brilliant British companies, we are not only furthering our status as one of the world’s leading space powers, but creating high-quality jobs and new opportunities across the UK.”

Space Minister Liz Lloyd