Boost for Scotland as spaceport ambitions take off
With the country's geography perfectly suited to launch sites, Scotland's ambitions in the space sector are now accelerating with firms such as Astroagency playing a major role in boosting the creation of an estimated £3billion industry by 2030, reveals
THE space industry in Scotland has taken major strides forward with two significant funding announcements. Astroagency, headquarted in Scotland, won funding from the UK Space Agency to establish a space hub on behalf of the Scottish Space Leadership Council (SSLC), while Prestwick Airport received an £80m investment to enable space related activities that go beyond the launch of satellites.
This comes off the back of the announcement by Shetland Spaceport in late October that Lockheed Martin had moved its UK satellite launch programme from Sutherland to Shetland, creating hundreds of jobs.
“The idea of a UK spaceport might seem strange, but if you live near one of the developing launch site locations you’ll have been assured that the towering infrastructure of Cape Canaveral will certainly not be required here,” said Daniel Smith, founder of Astroagency.
“In Scotland, geography has fortuitously ensured that our speciality will be the launch of small satellites on small launch vehicles from small launch pads to lucrative orbits that can access the whole of Earth’s surface.”
For a number of years now the Scottish space industry has been growing.
With launch capacity possible in the next 18 months, the value chain will be complete – from the manufacture of hardware like satellites and electronics, through to launch and finally analysis of the data that comes back from the satellites.
The Scottish Government has set its sights on a £4bn industry by 2030, creating opportunities for companies in many related industries.
“I’m often asked – why spend money on space when there are so many issues on earth that we have yet to resolve?” Smith said.
“This sentiment feels more pertinent during 2020 than in any other year in my lifetime. However, the reality is that money spent on space is, of course, actually spent here on Earth.
“The move from public to private investment in this sprawling sector enables us all to benefit from space technology and information in so many ways.
“This investment ent can can help help us in our battle for or a a better, better, cleaner Earth. We We can can use use low-cost access to o space space in in order to improve our our local local economy while enhancing the lives ves of people around d the the planet, be it through ugh education, navigation, healthcare, entertainment or most critically, environmental protection. “Businesses, whether in the industry or interested in growing through the opportunities offered through the space sector, stand at a threshold, where there is a real chance to use their transferable skills and experience to move into a rapidly expanding market, regardless of whether they are an engineering firm, safety consultancy, legal practice, logistics company or anything else.
“The opportunity is there to extend your business not so much into the final frontier, but into a new commercial frontier.”
Smith was part of the team that launched Skyrora, the rocket company based in Edinburgh, before setting up Astroagency. Now 12-strong, the team specialises in what they call “strategic space marketing marketing”, , co combining expert market market intelligence intell with awareness awareness building bu for existing existing spac space companies, space space startu startups and companies who who wa want to move into the the sector. se
Wh When lockdown hit, Astro Astroagency launched ‘The ‘The Spacebar’ – a fort fortnightly online meet-up, to keep relationships a among spacerelated companies s strong. It features a a mix of panel discussions and networking and has attracted participants from around the world.
The recent funding win from UKSA means the company can assist the Scottish Space Leadership Council, an outcome-led group that needs to evolve to meet the growing demands of the sector, to become a formalised entity, with the ultimate aim of connecting and promoting Scotland’s fast-growing space ecosystem nationally and internationally.
UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway said the funding would arm local leaders across the UK with the tools they need to put their local areas at the front of the commercial space race.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart added: “The investment in Scottish projects will contribute to regional economic growth and support the development of the space industry across the country.”
The SSLC was formed in 2016 as a voluntary, cross-sectoral representative organisation in response to the need for greater connection and collaboration within the Scottish and wider UK space community.
Scottish Trade, Investment & Innovation Minister, Ivan Mckee, said: “The SSLC, with strong support from the Scottish Government and its agencies, already plays an important role in the development of our growing space sector, most recently bringing together the developing spaceports across the UK to form the Spaceports Alliance. This funding will further enhance its work and support our ambitions for Scotland to become Europe’s leading space nation.
“I welcome the UK Space Agency’s recognition of the importance of a unified industry voice from Scotland and for my part, I will champion the views of our sector at all levels of government. The Scottish Government’s aim is for Scotland to secure a £4 billion slice of the global space market by 2030, an ambitious but realistic target, and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration in order to further develop the sector and promote opportunities for our businesses.”
Another aim of the organisation has been to offer a collegiate platform to promote market opportunities and provide a collaborative framework for space companies to address common challenges as a team.
One such fundamental challenge is the ongoing development of launch legislation that will govern all facets of spaceflight from the UK. At the moment, secondary legislation being developed as part of the Space Industry Act 2018 has just gone through a critical period of consultation that will help to shape its effectiveness.
The SSLC recently took the initiative to lead a consultation of the space sector on how to help achieve this ambition during a series of workshops. More than 70 stakeholders from the UK launch sector met online over a four-week period of time, enabling shared insight from academia, industry and government departments, as well as health and safety professionals that were combined with case studies and modelling.
SSLC Chair John Innes – a Chartered Physicist and Chartered Engineer, as well as visiting Professor at Edinburgh University – said: “The SSLC, working together with the Astroagency team, look forward to establishing a formalised Scottish hub suited to connecting and promoting the country’s vibrant space sector.”
The move from public to private investment enables us all to benefit from space technology