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 Kim McAllister
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 can help us in our battle for a better, cleaner Earth. We can use low-cost access to space in order to improve our local economy while enhancing the lives of people around the planet, be it through 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”, combining expert market intelligence with awareness building for existing space companies, space startups and companies who want to move into the sector.
When lockdown hit, AstroAgency launched ‘The SpaceBar’ – a fortnightly online meet-up, to keep relationships among space-related companies strong. It features 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.”
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Five launch sites could see Scotland become Europe’s space epicentre
The sky's the limit for the ambitions of Scottish Spaceports Alliance and UK Space Agency, with hopes high of creating five major launch sites in Scotland, writes Kim McAllister
PRESTWICK Spaceport hit the news last week with the announcement of an £80m funding package to develop horizontal launch capability from the Glasgow Prestwick Airport site, as well as a host of other activity beyond launch.
The UK Spaceports Alliance, established by the SSLC, comprises members of sites at Prestwick, Shetland, Sutherland, North Uist and Machrihanish, all of whom are working together to establish a launch industry in Scotland.
Prestwick and Machrihanish focus on horizontal ‘air launch’, where aircraft are involved to get the rockets to a certain height. The others are concerned with vertical launch, where rockets launch from the ground.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport, above, where the local council has received £80m funding to develop horizontal launch capability
Ian Annett, Deputy Chief Executive for project delivery at the UK Space Agency, said: “The UK Space Agency and the new Spaceports Alliance are working in lockstep towards a common goal – make the UK the leading destination for space launch in Europe.
“We want each space port to provide a range of services that complements those available at other space port sites; meeting the myriad demands from companies for satellite launches and sub-orbital flights. The Spaceports Alliance will help us realize this ambition and build on our space sector’s proud history of collaboration.”
Space Hub Sutherland has funding of £17.3m, from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the UKSA, with further support from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. It has already received planning permission.
Shetland Space Centre announced a few weeks ago that Lockheed Martin had transferred its satellite launch operations to Shetland. It anticipates that by 2024, the spaceport site could support a total of 605 jobs in Scotland including 140 locally and 210 across the wider Shetland region.
A development rocket by Skyrora, which is based in Edinburgh
A further 150 jobs will also be created through wider manufacturing and support services. North Uist intends to focus on launching sounding rockets. These typically carry instruments for data gathering and research for shorter duration sub-orbital flights.
John Innes, chair of the Scottish Space Leadership Council, added: “The international race to build launch capability ahead of other global competitors is very much underway. The Spaceports Alliance will facilitate an inclusive, collaborative approach in order to navigate the sector through the challenges and opportunities posed by the prospect of UK launch in the very near future.”
The Alliance, which was mediated by the SSLC and endorsed by the UK Space Agency and Scottish Government, will allow Scotland’s spaceports to accelerate the development of the UK’s launch infrastructure. Further developing launch sites across the UK, including Spaceport Cornwall, are expected to join the working group and broaden membership to a wider
level.
Collaborations like the UK Spaceports Alliance are vital if Scotland is going to create a thriving NewSpace sector. The SSLC’s continuing mission is to enable and organise these collaborations on a UK level.
To balance the needs of a thriving space sector with the need to protect the earth, the next set of initiatives the SSLC is planning is a series of environmental workshops in collaboration with the UK-wide partners.
They aim to bring together industry, academia, and leading environmental groups to chart a more environmentally sustainable future for the sector and to explore ways to address specific environmental challenges together.
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Eyes of the world are on us as country expands into ‘NewSpace’ market
The Scottish space ecosystem is attracting attention from across the world according to one specialist firm.
AstroAgency is a Scotland based space-focused strategic marketing company with international clients from as far afield as Canada and Florida.
Founder Daniel Smith said companies across the continents were waking up to the potential of expanding into the ‘NewSpace’ market.
Gore Space Centre of Excellence – W. L. Gore & Associates, Dundee
“It’s incredible how quickly the ecosystem is growing – the opportunities are there both for companies moving into Scotland and for home-grown businesses looking to move into the local or international space supply chain,” he said.
Space apps development company Deploy Solutions was tempted into the UK from its Canadian base after attending the virtual ‘SpaceBar’ event organised by AstroAgency every fortnight after the onset of the COVID pandemic as a way to bring the sector together.
The firm uses space data to power apps, as the market needs a way to quickly and cost-effectively bring space data down to earth to solve challenges for businesses and the environment. The company’s first products using space data will be available next year.
Leading space news publication ROOM Space Journal and Florida based business development firm Terrametric are also AstroAgency clients. The US company is entering the UK space market, bringing its extensive expertise across the space sector, and has some exciting plans in the pipeline.
“In the upstream sector we work with clients like Responsive Access, which is a launch brokerage firm and part of the European Space Agency business incubation programme based at the Higgs Centre for Innovation at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh site,” explains Smith.
Edinburgh's GSI uses earth observation data from satellites and AI to monitor forestry
“Another client, Alpha Data, is a great example of how space is open to everyone – it’s an Edinburgh electronics firm now finding success in the space market supplying satellite manufacturers and space missions.
“We also support WL Gore & Associates, a Dundee based firm that make cable and wiring assemblies that have been used in over 100 spaceflight programmes, including to the surface of the moon.
“In the downstream sector we work internationally as well as with GSI, another Edinburgh-based company specialising in the use of earth observation data from satellites in combination with artificial intelligence to monitor forestry around the world.
“Their customers rely on high quality analysis to help make multi-million dollar investment decisions.
“They are a great example of a Scottish SME leading the way in support of the increasingly important forest carbon offset market in the USA.”
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