On the western outskirts of the quaint Surrey town of Guildford, bordered by fields, lies a green pond marking the entrance to a narrow side road and a nondescript V-shaped building.
What goes on inside might surprise you. For this is Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), a company that despite its less than space-age name represents for many the beating heart of the UK space industry.
And since that industry has grown at an average of 10.2 per cent since 2006, supports 84,900 jobs and is worth more than £7.5 billion, it's time to pay attention to a success story that might (both literally and metaphorically) be our future.
But why does the UK have a problem celebrating its success in space? And what is the newly-established UK Space Agency going to do about it?
SSTL was originally spun off from the University of Surrey, but is now the world's leading small satellite company. SSTL have launched 36 satellites themselves and provided training and assistance to others including the European Space Agency, NASA and several governments.
Employing more than 350 people, with an annual turnover of more than £30 million, SSTL recently announced the successful launch of two earth observation satellites for Nigeria.
For Tim Just, lead technologist for satellite navigation at the UK innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, Surrey Satellites' story is being repeated around the country. Even if a little (forgive the pun) under the radar.
"It's the maturity of the space sector moving into real commercial applications," Just explains. The UK has been able to exploit the growth of both location technology and satellite broadcasting, and has carved out a versatile, and valuable, niche.
"That has created the demand for bigger and more capable satellites, and that's one of our strengths."
The applications of those technologies are many and varied. In agriculture, tractors are now linked to GPS to enable a more efficient and regulated use of farmland, he said. In transport UK trains now run in part on UK satellite technology. Medicine, haulage and local government have also benefited. Oh, and then there is the Rugby World Cup, just one of many sports events that will be sent halfway around the world thanks to UK machinery circling the Earth above our heads.
True, to fans of sci-fi those applications might not sound too exciting. But in a sense the UK's current commercial acumen in space has been built out of a more traditional, if not always spectacularly successful, history of rocket building. The UK was the third country to launch its own rocket after Russia and the United States, which sent the Prospero satellite into orbit. Once that programme was cancelled the UK space industry had to find something else to do. i.e. Making money.
"The UK industry was forced into more commercial applications which were relatively unknown at that time but have since forced the industry to focus on the telecommunications market," Just said. "So we are now a very commercially-focused sector."
In March 2010 the UK Space Agency was formed to take responsibility for the UK's key space budgets and policy, and to better co-ordinate and foster commercial growth. It was officially established as an agency in 2011, and there are early signs that it is helping to position the UK space industry to capitalise on its recent gains.
For the public, however, the existence of the UKSA is still often a surprise in itself. There is also, you sense, a peculiarly British feeling of embarrassment that such a thing exists, heightened by the fact that its headquarters are located in Swindon and its budget is around 100 times less than NASA's.
As one tech blog put it at the time: "It's clear that the UK's tentative steps towards the stars owes rather more to the 1950s Quatermass British Rocket Group than Star Trek's Star Fleet Academy".
More seriously, the astronomer royal and former president of the Royal Society Martin Rees says that the UKSA must make more of an effort to educate the public on the industry's successes.
"I think that it is a great pity that everyone has heard of NASA, a lot of people have heard of the European Space Agency, but no one has heard of the UK Space Agency," Rees told The Huffington Post UK. "I think that it is unfortunate. Whoever is in charge of it has zero public profile and I think that's a pity. We have some outstanding individuals and our research groups have a very high profile, but I think the UK effort as a whole isn't appreciated."
Fostering this appreciation for the UK's success in space isn't just a matter of who gets credit for what, but a vital element of encouraging a younger generation to continue its good work Rees says.
"It's crucial to ensure that young people are inspired to enter what will otherwise become [like NASA] an ageing community," Rees said.
David Williams, chief executive of the UKSA, accepts that the public has not yet caught up to the UK's vital role in space technology, but says the recent establishment of the agency will help to change those perceptions.
"The UK isn't involved in manned spaceflight or the space station so we don't get visibility at that level," he said. "For most people it's a matter of geeks in space doing science things. But in reality it's mainstream business - there are two FTSE 100 companies totally dependent on space for their business."
To those who claim that the UK space industry should be able to take care of itself, Williams says that it is important for the UK to make sure it retains its technical advantage, something only an agency can coordinate.
"The main criteria for requiring an agency, perhaps the main one, is that the UK as a country has got to have an intelligent handle on satellites as they're not just a civil tool ... We are in a position that whatever the rest of the world does, we can still build them."
Williams, who is also chairman of the European Space Agency, of which the UK is a member, says that international co-operation is as important as ever. Rejecting fears that a theoretical 'second space race' once China, India and other nations begin to fulfil their ambitions in that area could leave the UK vulnerable, he is instead optimistic that space will continue to present new opportunities.
"This year a UK company has managed to lease satellites to China, taking Earth observation images of one metre resolution, which is a big step forward. And it mainly involves good cooperation at the commercial level with good, open government support."
The UK Space Agency could still do more, Williams says. In particular the UK must not be afraid to provide long-term funding for space projects, even at a time when governments everywhere are being forces to tighten their belts.
"A space programme doesn't happen overnight. What you've got to be prepared to do is get through the difficult periods, because if you don't the impact is three to nine years away," he said.
"It's challenging but I'm optimistic we'll get some big decisions in both areas that will seal Europe's role in space and the UK's role within it," he said.
So while space may be dark, the UK's future in space is growing brighter by the day.
And who knows - if man ever does get to Mars then maybe, just maybe, a small piece of Surrey will be going there with us.