Sir Martin says he was encouraged to pursue his original idea when he joined the university as a student in 1970.
He said: “It was a brand new university. There was no history, there was no baggage.
“So when I said, ‘I’d like to build a small satellite here’, the staff and the technicians said, ‘why not?'”
Fast forward to 1981 and SSTL was born.
The years since have been punctuated by momentous achievements for the pioneering company.
SSTL’s first satellite, UoSat-1, exceeded its planned lifespan by five years after being built with Nasa’s help.
The company also built the first Galileo satellite, Europe’s global navigation satellite system which provides accurate and reliable positioning, navigation and timing services.
As part of its global reach efforts, SSTL has delivered satellites to 22 countries.
Ms Bywater says the company’s work has allowed “space to become accessible to many, many different countries, and indeed people”.