The Opportunity
Perhaps the single most important development for the growing SmallSat industry will be low cost access to space. This will be the game-changing technology that opens up the market and commercial opportunities.
For many years the United Kingdom has excelled in manufacturing small satellites and CubeSats. Companies such as Clyde Space and SSTL are world leaders in the industry. What the U.K. industry has been missing is a domestic launch capability to avoid the reliance and dependence on foreign suppliers for launching its spacecraft.
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The lack of sovereign launch capability poses an increasing risk to the U.K.’s growing space industry, and in particular small spacecraft missions and services. Although operating successfully and commercially in space and ground segments, U.K. industry has been highly vulnerable to launch price and schedule changes from international partners and suppliers.
Proposal for a UK Sovereign Launch Capability
The Queen’s speech on May 18, 2016, which announced the U.K. government’s policy agenda for the year ahead, featured the proposal for the first commercial spaceport in the country. The Modern Transport Bill announced in parliament set out the aim to “secure low-cost access to space for our world-leading small- and micro-satellite industry.” Five spaceport sites have been shortlisted: Newquay in Cornwall; Llanbedr in Snowdonia, Wales; Glasgow Prestwick, Scotland; Campbeltown, Scotland; and Stornoway in the Western Isles.
Attracting Investment
This announcement is part of the U.K. government’s plan to grow the nation’s share of the global space sector to 10 percent by 2030. An important part of this ambition is for the United Kingdom to be the European center for sub-orbital spaceflight.
“Small satellites are an increasingly large part of the market and the ability to cost-effectively launch them, on-demand, from an easily reached site should improve the competitiveness of European small satellite mission providers like Deimos,” said Philip Davies, managing director at Deimos Space U.K.
“The U.K. has the ambition to grow its space sector from 12 billion pounds in 2013 ($17.4 billion) to 40 billion pounds ($57.9 billion) by 2030 and Airbus, as the U.K.’s largest space company, intends to be part of this growth story,” Richard Peckham, business development director at Airbus, said.
It is clear that an end-to-end space industry in the United Kingdom, from conception to launch of a satellite, would be attractive for investment. The United Kingdom would be the first country to offer this in Europe. VS
