According to investment bank Goldman Sachs, the world’s space industry generated $630bn in 2023, a figure it forecasts will rise to $1.8tn a year by 2035. The space sector is growing at twice the rate of global GDP, says the World Economic Forum. Around 8,000 jobs in Scotland already come from the space industry, but the Scottish Government wants a lot more jobs and a lot more companies, both indigenous to Scotland and from foreign direct investment. To help promote Scotland’s attractions, the Edinburgh government has appointed the space entrepreneur, Daniel Smith, as the country’s first Space Envoy.
The appointment was announced early September at the Space-Comm Expo in Glasgow – the first to be held in Scotland – by Scottish Government Business Minister Richard Lochhead. He said:
“The creation of the Space Envoy role is another indication of how quickly the sector is growing and of how importantly the Scottish Government regards its contribution to the economy.”
Smith has an established track record in the space sector, having been instrumental in founding the global space communications firm AstroAgency; a spaceport design company and a European launch vehicle firm, based in Scotland. He is also a non-executive director of Space Scotland, the organisation that brings together the key private and public sector stakeholders in Scotland’s space industry. Space Scotland estimates the industry here is growing by around 12% each year.
Smith’s unpaid appointment is for two years. Speaking about his new role, he said:
“It’s a pivotal time for Scotland’s fast-growing space sector. Our thriving commercial space sector – actively supported by government agencies and academia – is delivering exciting and new business and career opportunities.
“One particular area for future growth is through international partnerships that enable local companies to operate on the global stage while attracting inward investment to enhance Scotland’s space sector and to enhance economic growth.
“I’m excited to help connect Scotland’s commercial space players with business opportunities overseas. With leading technology, Scotland has the technical competence, as well as a sustainable strategic vision, to play an expanding role in the global space economy.”
Scottish Space Strategy
Behind Smith’s appointment is the Scottish Space Strategy. Launched in 2021 by the Scottish Government, the plan aims to attract at least £4bn of investment into the nation’s space industry and create up to 20,000 new jobs by 2030. UK government figures say Scotland had 228 “space organisations” in 2021-22, with a combined income of £298mn, close to double the figure for 2018-19.
Scotland is a world-leading centre for the design and manufacture of small satellites. Glasgow is said to build more satellites than any other place in Europe. The country hosts more than 170 data science companies and is Europe’s largest location for informatics, the science of information processing and engineering. Scotland now boasts two spaceports, at SaxaVord on Shetland and the A’ Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland.
Scotland’s universities the crowning glory
Perhaps the crowning glory in Scotland’s space firmament is its outstanding university sector. Aberdeen University runs a Masters course in Planetary Science. This interdisciplinary course involves students studying Earth, moon, and planetary sciences, as well as the technology that helps interpret the processes that form them.
Strathclyde University’s School of Engineering “seeks to inspire” the next generation of space engineers with its Scottish Space School, a summer school for students approaching the end of their school careers. It was from Strathclyde that Scotland’s first commercial satellite business emerged. The University’s Centre for Space Science and Applications works on a broad range of space physics problems. To get a flavour of the sophistication of the work done at the Centre visit its website.
Glasgow University’s coastal erosion space technology
Glasgow University showed delegates to the Space-Comm Expo the university’s student-led OirthirSAT nanosatellite project, which won £600k in funding from the LaunchUK Nanosatellite Design Competition in 2021. Glasgow’s OirthirSAT students beat off competition from 40 other groups from across the UK to secure the funding award.
Glasgow University’s website says:
“OirthirSAT aims to demonstrate the in-orbit processing of multispectral satellite imagery, culminating in the extracting of shoreline position information which will be used by researchers to develop models of coastal erosion.
“The team’s mission design could be easily adapted to produce datasets on other coastal change processes or applied to environmental challenges including tracking vegetation boundaries and forest or farm borders.
“The team expects to begin assembling and testing the nanosatellite later this year, before presenting a flight model for qualification review in April 2025.”
Building the skills base to reach for the stars
The Space Hub at Edinburgh University has partnered with further education institution Fife College, to create “The Spaces Bridges Project.” Funding comes from the UK Space Agency.
The initiative combines the expertise of both institutions, providing a range of short courses to build the skills base in Scotland’s space sector. Appropriate courses are available to technically-minded school leavers all the way up to highly qualified professionals who want to move into the space industry. The Spaces Bridges Project has committed to “encouraging applications from those who have taken a career break or from a disadvantaged background.” The university’s tagline for the project is:
“Electricians, carers and beyond sought to launch careers in space.”
Across at that other renowned Edinburgh institution, Heriot-Watt University, a new £2.5mn state-of-the-art telescope station is to be built at the University’s Research Park in the west of the city. Heriot-Watt says:
“The Hub Optical Ground Station (HOGS) aims to demonstrate and test satellite quantum secure communications to counter cyberattacks and is part of a collaborative effort involving the universities of Bristol, Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde, and York, with space engineering expertise provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space Facility.
“The optical ground station will further support research across a broad range of areas, including space situational awareness, astronomy, astrophotonics, and optical communications.”
Space on track to be big sector of Scottish economy
Attracting Space-Com Expo 2024 to Glasgow was a significant endorsement of Scotland’s rise as a space industry location. The event drew over 3,000 delegates from across the world to the city. Seventy five supplier companies exhibited at the Scottish Exhibition Centre and over 60 speakers took part in specialised sessions. While many visitors came from the space sector and its supply chain, the event also drew experts from financial technology and the agriculture, marine and energy sectors. They all have an interest in harnessing space to improve business performance. Many other business sectors will have similar ambitions. Scotland stands ready to make space one of the leading sectors of its 21st century economy.
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