Public Service Broadcasting: watch 'Sputnik' behind the scenes video

The date of the shoot turned out to be a lucky one

In October, Public Service Broadcasting were given rare permission to shoot a video at Jodrell Bank in October for their video, 'Sputnik', which has premiered on the Independent.

Public Service Broadcasting played at Jodrell Bank before, supporting New Order in 2013, but the band were cramming so much in back then that they had to leave before New Order even played.

"We're lucky to be back here to have another go," J. Willgoose Esq., Public Service Broadcasting frontman, said.

Public Service Broadcasting at Jodrell Bank Observatory (Press image)

In the video, Public Service Broadcasting play their track in front of Jodrell Bank's giant 76 metre wide telescope. Images of the space race were superimposed on the telescope afterwards.

The date of the shoot turned out to be a lucky one - as Professor Tim O'Brien, associate director of Jodrell Bank and professor of astrophysics University of Manchester, explains in this behind the scenes clip.

"Tonight is a very important night in the history of Jodrell Bank because it's actually the anniversary of the day that we picked up a radar echo of the rocket that carried Sputnik into space," O'Brien says.

The Russian launch of Sputnik in October 1957 marked the very first time man had broken through the earth's atmosphere. If you listen carefully you can hear it bleeping in Public Service Broadcasting's track.

Tracking Sputnik was also the first thing the Lovell Telescope - Jodrell Bank's giant 76 metre wide telescope - did after it was built. Scientists at the observatory were instructed by the Ministry Defence to track the rocket that launched Sputnik into space, because the Government were afraid that the next thing the Russians might launch would be a nuclear weapon.

Public Service Broadcasting wrote about 'Sputnik' on track two of their album, The Race for Space, out now. A separate Sputnik/Korolov EP is out on 20 November in support of the band's UK tour, tickets here, dates below:

26 November – Great Hall, Cardiff

27 November –02 Guildhall, Southampton

29 November – 02 Academy Brixton, London

7 February 2016 – Refectory, Leeds

8 February 2016 - Queen's Hall, Edinburgh Sold Out

10 February 2016 - O2 Academy, Liverpool

11 February 2016 - Rock City, Nottingham

12 February 2016 – OPEN, Norwich