AMATEUR astronomers in Basingstoke have saved the Ministry of Defence millions of pounds by monitoring space and satellites for free.

Volunteers at Basingstoke Astronomical Society have been using their telescopes to photograph objects as small as freezers to help the military gather intelligence as space becomes increasingly congested.

The group has been helping the MoD explore whether a low-cost network of cameras could improve experts’ situational awareness.

The Hampshire-based society offered to help after hearing about the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) space programme.

It is essential to track the more than 22,000 artificial satellites in orbit to ‘avoid unexpected collisions,’ the Royal Astronomical Society said.

The group used commercial telescopes, DSLR cameras and low-light cameras to record images of satellites including the International Space Station.

Alan Lorrain, secretary of Basingstoke Astronomical Society, told the Gazette: “The tricky part for us is choosing the right moment to take the picture.

“The satellites travel around 16,000mph. Within a quarter second, they are gone.”

Dstl said it was ‘pleased’ to discover that equipment similar to that used by amateur astronomers could accurately monitor the positions of low level satellites as small as a kitchen freezer.

Grant Privet, from Dstl, said: “The accuracy of the exposure timing is absolutely critical, and requires some attention to detail.

“The BAS astronomers were very good and clearly highly talented, so together we formed a good team.

“We found there are no obvious impediments to using commercially available kit to provide small component of a more capable and diverse system for monitoring space, where satellites of importance to UK communications, economy, and defence operate.”

Alan Lorrain, secretary of Basingstoke Astronomical Society, said: “We arrange speakers to come to our society to talk about their work and after that time they approached us to work with them. This is about trying to protect satellites. There is an awful lot of junk up there and what the MoD wanted us to do was to see if there was a way of monitoring space cheaply.

Mr Lorrain is keen stargazer, who has been a member of the society for 15 years. He first became enthralled by space after watching the moon landing as a child.

The retired banker, 62, said: “The most amazing thing to capture is a total eclipse of the sun.

“I’ve travelled all over the world to witness it from China to France.

“We’ve also seen several fireballs and very bright meteors. They come through the earth’s atmosphere then burn up in the sky.”

He added: “Space is becoming more congested than ever.

“There is a lot of junk up there with more satellites being launched all the time as technology improves so it is vital we can track the number of items in the sky.”

Mr Lorrain said the society will resume star-gazing in the Autumn.