Goonhilly

[Monty]

Goonhilly has just been discussed in the Prime Ministers question time, David Cameron said he would all that he can to make sure that funding would be made available as highly skilled jobs were important in western Cornwall.

Good news for the new center.

[Capricorn]

If it was said by the Prime Minister that probably means that it's day's are numbered.

Almost the fact that it has come up for discussion means there must be some possibility that is will be reduced or closed. Otherwise why is it a topic for discussion?

From what I can see the place is now in effect privately run, it was initially BT who moved out several years ago and is now Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, who have a relatively short lease, 3years, then have the right to purchase.

As it seems to be very much a private enterprise now, where does government funding come in and if it gets close then it is not the government that will have closed it, it will have been GES Ltd. Thats convenient for DC.

[Monty]

I thought it was a good topic.

To quote wiki;

"On 11th January 2011 it was announced that part of the site is to be sold to create a space science centre.This will involve upgrading some of the dishes to make them suitable for "deep space communication with spacecraft missions". A new company has been formed to manage the operations, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. The company will lease most of the antennas for at least three years with the option to buy the entire complex in the future.

There are plans to connect one or more of the Goonhilly dishes into global radio astronomy interferometer networks.

There are also plans to upgrade the former visitor centre into "an outreach centre promoting space and space science for visitors, including local residents and schools"."