One giant leap for dramkind
Whisky-box satellites are latest weapon in secret space race
the size of whisky boxes and produced in Scotland are the latest secret weapon in the fight against climate change. The tiny spacecraft that monitor the health of the world’s oceans are the brainchild of a former Glasgow University student, as the city positions itself to become Europe’s satellite capital.
Nasa, ESA and the UK Space Agency are just three of the growing number of clients beating a path to the city, where Clyde Space, founded by electronics engineering graduate Craig Clark, builds the tiny spacecraft in a special cleanroom environment.
The collaboration with Nasa is part of a long-running project that assesses the state of the world’s waters as climate change has a growing effect. The Scottish company’s global impact has confounded sceptics who claimed such critical tasks couldn’t be carried out by its small-scale satellites weighing just 4kg.
Craig said: “Almost everyone said we couldn’t do it until we had a visit from Nasa saying they wanted to work with us. “They now see it as one of their most interesting projects. “One of their experts was amazed by what we’re getting back and said it ‘wasn’t bad for a shoebox’.”
Technological advances and much smaller components mean the tiny satellites can now do the job of much bigthey ger ones. are also much cheaper to design, build and use.
They launch from every continent in the world and will blast off from Sutherland when the UK’S first spaceport, dubbed “Cape Croft”, is up and running.
The satellites can track the health of seas, looking at colour changes as oceans continue to warm and the impact of pollution on vital microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton.
With unabated greenhouse gas emissions, the bluest subtropical zones become bluer, and greener polar and equatorial regions become greener. Both were pinpointed as dangerous indicators of global warming. Dr Gene Carl Feldman, oceanographer at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the partnership with Clyde Space was invaluable in helping us assess the impact of climate change. He said: “These images provide a new view of the world’s oceans and will fill a critical role in Nasa’s mission to understand our planet and how it is changing and, in particular for the oceans, to monitor in a much more detailed way the biological consequences of that change.”
Data giant Spire Global, which has its HQ in San Francisco, announced the launch of its 100th Glasgowbuilt satellite earlier this year, and plans are under way for Clyde Space to ramp up production from 10 to 20 satellites per year to several hundred.
As part of the expansion, the Finnieston-based company is looking to take on many more skilled staff. “Scotland now has one of the fastest-growing space sectors in the world,” said Craig.
“From a standing start, we are now making more satellites in Glasgow than any other city in Europe, with Spire moving here because of what was happening.
“Things are moving so fast we are recruiting to take the number of employees from 70 to 100 by the end of this year.” Clyde Space’s satellites launch into relatively low orbits, 300-370 miles up, as opposed to huge traditional communications and