ORC Quarterly Safety Review — Q3 2024
ORC completed its Q3 2024 safety review on 14 October 2024. Zero lost-time incidents were recorded. This is the fourteenth consecutive quarter in which ORC has recorded zero lost-time incidents.
A safety certificate has been ordered to mark this milestone. The supplier has been chased twice. The estimated delivery date is unknown. The previous certificate is displayed in reception. The previous certificate expired in Q2 2021. The gap between certificates is acknowledged. L. Sandhu has noted the gap.
Three near-miss events were recorded during Q3. All three were reviewed by the Safety Committee. None met the threshold for formal regulatory notification under the UK Space Industry Act 2018. Two were straightforwardly below threshold. The third required a brief discussion about what “straightforwardly” means in this context. The conclusion was that it was below threshold. The discussion has been minuted.
- The signal monitoring protocol for all active missions has been updated. All uplink frequencies are now continuously logged with automatic flagging for any signal that does not match a registered format. This was sensible practice regardless of Q3 events. It should have been done earlier.
- The pre-submission checklist has been updated to include a mandatory Stage 3 signature field. This has been confirmed by L. Sandhu. L. Sandhu has asked that the update not be described as “overdue.” The update is timely.
- NM-2024-Q3-03 remains under internal review by M. Hargreaves. A target completion date has not been set. M. Hargreaves is aware that a target completion date has not been set.
- All near-miss events should be reported within 24 hours to L. Sandhu using Form ORC-SAFETY-007(b). Not ORC-SAFETY-007. ORC-SAFETY-007(b). The difference is documented in the guidance notes.