What attracted him was the chance to get involved across the whole lifecycle of a spacecraft - and to take on real responsibility early in his career.
“I knew that in a relatively small company I’d be able to do meaningful work on meaningful projects, rather than being a tiny cog in a gigantic wheel.”
That happened quickly.
When Patrick joined, the HydroGNSS mission for the European Space Agency had only recently kicked off and its payload antenna was still largely a theoretical design.
Over the next few years, he helped take it from early test boards and individual antenna elements through development and qualification to the finished system flying on the two spacecraft.
One of the standout moments came during final antenna testing at BAE Systems.
“Seeing the two completed spacecraft mounted at the test facility, taking the lead on the test campaign, and seeing the results confirm what we had been observing throughout development was a big accomplishment.”
HydroGNSS is also the mission Patrick most often finds himself explaining outside work. Using reflected satellite navigation signals to measure environmental variables such as soil moisture and forest biomass, even through clouds or at night, makes it both genuinely novel science and something people can readily understand.
In just four years, Patrick has worked across much of the RF chain, including amplifiers, antennas and RF simulations, travelled with spacecraft to specialist test facilities, and presented SSTL’s HydroGNSS antenna work at a conference in Glasgow.
Today, he is also RF Lead for the MicroSAR mission, responsible for coordinating the delivery and testing of its RF equipment and presenting progress to the customer.
Four years in, that pace and variety show no sign of slowing down.
“I’m consistently surprised to hear what our next mission is going to be,” says Patrick. “We’re never building anything boring.”
Long may that continue.