Daniel Martin

Daniel Martin MEng MIET

Director & Chief Technology Officer

Personal Biography

I am a Director and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Third Planet Orbital Ltd, a company providing reliable and trustworthy building blocks for space technology users, deliberately focusing on the robustness and trustworthiness of its products.

My knowledge and background in Electronic Engineering, Embedded Software Development, Spacecraft System design, Astrophysics, Process Automation, and Server Administration provides a broad engineering foundation. I regularly attend conferences, personal development sessions and training to maintain my engineering expertise. I also volunteer as an Event Communication Officer with St John Ambulance supporting communication technologies used at events.

  1. Company formation, management, and technical growth strategy.
  2. Systems Engineer for spacecraft and space technology.
  3. Electronics, software, and server experience.
  4. Committed professional engineer ensuring quality design & development.

Professional Experience

Third Planet Orbital Ltd Director & Chief Technology Officer

Aug 2023 to present 路 2 yr 3 mos

Having engineered Satellites and Missions, I have helped establish Third Planet Orbital (TPO) to build functionally standardised satellite buses, available ready-to-go to facilitate the rapid supply demands for the New Space industry.

My role is to establish robust sustainable engineering practices, readying our space technology, building trustworthy corporate governance, and pulling together a skilled engineering team, to accelerate the UK's commercial space sector. I am excited to be overseeing the design, development and deployment of all engineering activities.

SpyClub Owner

Feb 2015 to present 路 10 yr 9 mos

I own a business delivering a series of spy themed training material, covering prototyping, electronics, programming, microcontrollers, single board computers, and programming for all experience levels and backgrounds.

SpyClub also provides professional services focused on cybersecurity for individuals, small businesses and startups. Freely available and maintainable tools are configured, to ensure businesses have domain names, websites, and emails systems configured to follow recommended practices to prevent spoofing and attack.

Kleos Space Global

Sep 2017 to Jul 2023 路 5 yr 10 mos

Kleos Space SA Principal Systems Engineer

Nov 2018 to Jul 2023 路 4 yr 8 mos

Lead position managing a team of System Engineers, where I support aspects of mission management, operations, and planning for growth of the spacecraft constellation. My responsibilities include sub-system and mission level modelling and simulation, supplier selection, contract negotiations, system integration, regulatory compliance and payload capture optimisation.

I develop and manage internal DevOps process automation activities for software development toolchains, including the coding, testing, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining of software and associated server infrastructure.

Additionally, I regularly contribute to improving the company Quality System, including the authoring, approving and executing of company processes and procedures. I have a keen interest in configuration management and help to ensure a consistent and reliable working method across company disciplines.

Kleos Space Sarl Principal Electronics Engineer

Sep 2017 to Nov 2018 路 1 yr 2 mos

Responsible for the design, development and testing of electronic and software systems required for manufacturing of large structures in-space, and selection of suitable spacecraft components for the Kleos Scouting Missions.

St John Ambulance

Sep 2007 to present 路 18 yr 2 mos

St John Ambulance Event Communications Officer

Feb 2017 to present 路 8 yr 9 mos

Currently in post as a volunteer Event Communication Officer where I'm responsible for ensuring safe, legal and effective use of communication equipment used in operations throughout the district of Leicestershire and Rutland. I attend events for the delivery of medical assistance as an Advanced First Aider or support the communications at the event by operating in the medical control room. Additionally, I deliver training of communication equipment to all skill levels within the organisation.

St John Ambulance Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster & Logistics

Sep 2007 to Jul 2011 路 3 yr 10 mos

I joined St John Ambulance as a volunteer First Aider while at the University of Surrey. In addition to providing medical assistance at events, I supported the local unit with administrative tasks in my role as Secretary, Treasurer, and Webmaster. In my final year at the University I became responsible for the logistics and resilience of the unit. The logistics role required sufficient equipment to be available for staff during routine events and planning for abnormal major incidents situations at the University in coordination with the local hospital.

Magna Parva

Sep 2011 to Sep 2021 路 10 yrs

Magna Parva Ltd Principal Systems Engineer

Dec 2020 to Sep 2021 路 9 mos

Senior role where I supported a team of Engineers to ensure the continued development of space hardware, Ground Support Equipment (GSE), instrument calibration and advised on commercial exploitation of space technologies.

Magna Parva Ltd Advanced Design & Development Engineer

Sep 2011 to Dec 2020 路 9 yr 3 mos

Starting as a graduate engineer, I quickly progressed in both Design & Development activities at Magna Parva. I supported projects developing space hardware, Ground Support Equipment (GSE), instrument calibration and performed commercial exploitation of space technologies. I've supported many projects including the design, development, simulation and testing of electronics and software systems. These projects include manipulation of propulsion for microgravity applications, removal of Martian dust from solar panels, non-pyrotechnic release mechanisms, automated biomedical sample preparation systems, and high power ultrasonic tooling for drilling & beverage can production.

OC Robotics Placement Development Engineer

Jul 2008 to Jul 2009 路 1 yr

Employed during my industrial placement year as part of my degree at the University of Surrey. OC Robotics, now a GE Aviation company, specialises in the manufacture of snake arm robots. I developed testing equipment for cable performance characterisation, embedded programming on an STM32 for a bespoke gray-coded linear encoder application, and programmed a component tracking system using PHP/MySQL.

Technical Skills

I've worked on various models and simulations of spacecraft systems, ranging from sub-system level performance characterisations (including battery charge regulation, RF link budget assessment & cable harness performance) to mission level assessments (including payload scheduling, ground station network contact assessment & formation flying evaluation). The models have been utilised across various teams and engineering disciplines, implemented using continuous integration technologies (GitLab) to ensure results are configuration controlled, traceable, and clearly presented to any interested end-user and/or stakeholder.

  • MATLAB Octave Simulink
  • MathCad MS Excel
  • AGI STK NASA GMAT

I'm an experienced programmer and software system architect, working in multiple programming languages and development environments. I've developed various vendor Application Programming Interfaces (API), including Google Maps, Trello, Esri, Microsoft Graph, and many supplier specific implementations. I'm competent in the use of a variety of different Operating Systems including Windows (7, 10, 11, 10 IoT Core, Server 2016, Server 2019), Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, SUSE, Arch) and Android. I've deployed various virtualisation methodologies including full hypervisors (vmware and Hyper-V) and software containerisation (Docker).

  • C C++ C#
  • Python Conda
  • JS node.js
  • PHP
  • HTML CSS
  • bash sh PS
  • MATLAB MathCAD
  • SQL MS Access MongoDB
  • MS Excel VB

I've worked in various Laboratory and Clean room (ISO 6 to 8) environments, performing assembly, integration, testing and verification activities. I'm competent in the use of most common electronics test equipment, such Voltage Network Analysers (VNA), spectrum analysers, oscilloscopes, voltmeters and Data Acquisition modules (DAQ). I've inspected mechanical components using a variety of callipers, micrometres and Coordinate Measurement Machines (CMM). I'm a proficient solderer and use both hand and reflow soldering techniques for BGA or 0603 components.

I've designed electronic schematics, Printed Circuit Boards (PCB), cable harnesses and industrial electrical panels (incorporating control through PLC & HMI). I've worked on a variety of Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages to achieve combined electronic (PCB), mechanical and harnessing for fully integrated mechatronic systems. I've also designed and built electronic systems for batch production & test.

  • Altium Designer Zuken E3
  • KiCAD Fritzing EAGLE
  • Siemens NX SketchUp MS Visio

Education

University Of Surrey

Engineering Degree

I studied at University of Surrey from 2006 to 2011 where I attended Space Technology and Planetary Exploration, IET accredited degree. Graduated with a Masters in Engineering (MEng) Distinction 75.8%.

Bede's Senior School, The Dicker

British Secondary Education

I studied at Bede's Senior School, The Dicker, from 2001 to 2006 where I attended British Secondary Education. I did A-levels in Physics, Mathematics, Business Studies & Media Studies.