UK welcomes arrival of West of Scotland Space Cluster

West of Scotland Space Cluster

The organisation – as with other clusters – will comprise local industries, education establishments, and regional development agencies. The region’s capabilities extend, it highlighted, from small satellite design, manufacture and mission support services to R&D in fields such as quantum, photonics, communications and AI.

For example, the University of Strathclyde will be sharing its space-related research and expertise. You can see the full list of partners, and its aim is to support Scotland secure £4 billion of the global space market by 2030.

Craig Clark MBE – space entrepreneur, the founder of AAC Clyde Space and a Professor of Practice at the University of Strathclyde – highlighted Scotland’s emerging end-to-end capability for European small satellites:

“With SaxaVord Spaceport now operating as the first fully-licensed vertical launch Spaceport in Europe, the West of Scotland has a pivotal role to play in the delivery of the country’s end-to-end capability and helping to attract international companies to set up operations here as we have recently seen with the South African CubeSat imaging company, Simera Sense.”

“From a standing start in 2005, Scotland now has one of the fastest-growing space sectors in the world, fuelled by global excellence in space-related research and a long history of innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering.”

The aim of the new Cluster, he added, is to “grease the wheels of the continued growth of the sector in the region”, helping make Scotland a global space player.

The organisation highlighted, for example, that more satellites are built in Glasgow than any other city in Europe. This is via AAC Clyde Space and Spire Global. Other organisations – such as Craft Prospect and Alba Orbital – are also active in the small satellites market.

Space clusters

Other regional space clusters in the UK include the Cornwall Space Cluster, the Midlands Space Cluster, Space Hub Yorkshire, Space North East England and Space South Central, for example.

For its part, the UK Space Agency welcomed the new addition:

“The UK Space Agency strongly supports and is investing in the growth of the Scottish Space Economy,” said Antonia Yendell, Head of the Space Ecosystem team at the UK Space Agency.

“The UK Space Ecosystem is a competitive advantage for the UK Space Sector and Scotland plays a critical role in our thriving and interconnected cluster network, developing our national capabilities and driving economic growth.”

The organisation is based in central Glasgow, on George Street.

Image: West of Scotland Space Cluster – Alan Thompson (Skyrora), John Charlick (Craft Prospect), Andrew Strain (AAC Clyde Space), Craig Clark MBE (University of Strathclyde)

See also: University College London joins Space South Central