Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Adastral Park
Adastral Park is a science campus based on part of the old Royal Air Force Station at Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk.
When the site opened it was known as the Post Office Research Station, but it was subsequently renamed BT Research Laboratories or BT Labs and later Adastral Park to reflect an expansion in the organisations and activities co-located with BT Labs at the campus.
The original laboratories (when BT was part of the Post Office) were first opened by Elizabeth II in 1975. Prior to this the Post Office Research Station was at Dollis Hill in northwest London. Martlesham Heath was chosen as the site for a research facility because the surrounding countryside was relatively flat and therefore ideal for testing the radio-based communication systems in vogue at the time.
Initially, research was carried out into postal sorting and delivery technology, and telecommunications. After the Post Office was split apart and prior to British Telecom's privatisation in the early 1980s, the research concentrated on telecommunications.
In keeping with the stellar theme of the site name, buildings on site are named after stars or constellations (an example being the Main Laboratory Block now named the Orion building). The Orion building is easily recognisable from the nearby A12 road with its 200-foot (61 m) radio tower, now named Pegasus tower, dominating the skyline.
The change to the current name occurred in the late 1990s with the aim of turning the site into a high-technology business park, no longer exclusively for the use of BT. The name was created by Stewart Davies, the CEO of the BT business (BT Exact Technologies) headquartered at the site at that time. It is derived from the motto of the Royal Air Force—per ardua ad astra ("through adversity to the stars"). The Royal Air Force were prior residents of the site, as RAF Martlesham Heath. Experimental aircraft test flights flew from the airfield and the name was meant to reflect this. In March 2001, University College London, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, chose Adastral Park to set up the first-ever postgraduate research and teaching centre on an industrial campus, which was housed there until 2009. During the transformation of the business park, many of the old buildings were removed and car parks were moved to the perimeter of the site, with the centre made into open parkland with a water feature to provide a 'park' feel to the complex. The site accommodates approximately 4,000 people.
Companies based at Adastral Park besides BT (BT Applied Research) include:
There is also a satellite earth station operated by Arqiva; the location was chosen for the visibility of satellites on the eastern horizon. In 2018 there were 98 high-tech companies at the site.
Hub AI
Adastral Park AI simulator
(@Adastral Park_simulator)
Adastral Park
Adastral Park is a science campus based on part of the old Royal Air Force Station at Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk.
When the site opened it was known as the Post Office Research Station, but it was subsequently renamed BT Research Laboratories or BT Labs and later Adastral Park to reflect an expansion in the organisations and activities co-located with BT Labs at the campus.
The original laboratories (when BT was part of the Post Office) were first opened by Elizabeth II in 1975. Prior to this the Post Office Research Station was at Dollis Hill in northwest London. Martlesham Heath was chosen as the site for a research facility because the surrounding countryside was relatively flat and therefore ideal for testing the radio-based communication systems in vogue at the time.
Initially, research was carried out into postal sorting and delivery technology, and telecommunications. After the Post Office was split apart and prior to British Telecom's privatisation in the early 1980s, the research concentrated on telecommunications.
In keeping with the stellar theme of the site name, buildings on site are named after stars or constellations (an example being the Main Laboratory Block now named the Orion building). The Orion building is easily recognisable from the nearby A12 road with its 200-foot (61 m) radio tower, now named Pegasus tower, dominating the skyline.
The change to the current name occurred in the late 1990s with the aim of turning the site into a high-technology business park, no longer exclusively for the use of BT. The name was created by Stewart Davies, the CEO of the BT business (BT Exact Technologies) headquartered at the site at that time. It is derived from the motto of the Royal Air Force—per ardua ad astra ("through adversity to the stars"). The Royal Air Force were prior residents of the site, as RAF Martlesham Heath. Experimental aircraft test flights flew from the airfield and the name was meant to reflect this. In March 2001, University College London, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, chose Adastral Park to set up the first-ever postgraduate research and teaching centre on an industrial campus, which was housed there until 2009. During the transformation of the business park, many of the old buildings were removed and car parks were moved to the perimeter of the site, with the centre made into open parkland with a water feature to provide a 'park' feel to the complex. The site accommodates approximately 4,000 people.
Companies based at Adastral Park besides BT (BT Applied Research) include:
There is also a satellite earth station operated by Arqiva; the location was chosen for the visibility of satellites on the eastern horizon. In 2018 there were 98 high-tech companies at the site.