Scotland’s space sector is among the fastest-growing in the UK. It’s aiming for a £4 billion share of the global space market by 2030. This is set out in A Strategy for Space in Scotland, the 2021 document jointly developed and published by industry, academia and government.
From a standing start in 2005, Scotland now has one of the world’s fastest-growing space sectors, fuelled by global excellence in space-related research and a long history of innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering.
Scotland is home to an increasing and vital aspect of the UK’s space workforce, employing more than 8500 people in the industry. It’s not just home-grown companies that are part of our burgeoning space sector: California-based Spire Global, a pioneer in the industry, designs, tests and builds its own satellites in Scotland. German company, RFA Augsberg, is also developing launch operations from the SaxaVord spaceport site in Shetland in the very near future.
In a short space of time, Scotland has developed a world class space industry. Space companies such as AAC Clyde Space has led the way, building more satellites in Glasgow than any other city in Europe. Likewise, other innovators such as Craft Prospect and Alba Orbital are introducing further technologies in the global small satellites market.
In Edinburgh, the Bayes Centre serves as the university’s innovation hub for data science and artificial intelligence. It brings together over 400 scientists, industry experts, and innovation professionals who work collaboratively across data technology.
Scotland’s coastlines and landscapes are not only beautiful, but also an ideal location for spaceports, and the only vertical launch spaceports in the UK. Launch capability, which includes designing, manufacturing and launching small satellites, can all be done in Scotland, making the difference to our day-to-day lives.
Data-Driven Solutions
In 2022, Earth Blox in Edinburgh displayed its revolutionary satellite data analysis software in an online seminar with its partner, Google.
Established in 2019, Earth Blox is the foremost provider of consumer-level satellite intelligence. This data tracks deforestation and aids agriculture. It also monitors climate change, and speeds up natural disaster response times.
Earth observation is a major activity of the space sector. It involves hundreds of satellites recording various types of data about the planet, and streaming it back down to specialised ground stations.
“We are proud to support companies from any sector who are hard at work addressing humanitarian, environmental, or sustainability challenges. Our ambition is to make Earth observation data accessible to all those that work, live and breathe sustainability.”
Supported by the University of Edinburgh, Earth Blox is powering STRATA. This United Nations' scheme was designed to identify areas where climate, environmental, and security stresses overlap.
Sustainable Space
As a sector that is traditionally perceived as having a high carbon footprint, companies in Scotland are working to reduce the impact of the space race on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and waste.
From developing new spaceports to satellite-monitoring of the health of our seas and forests, Scotland is meeting these challenges with a climate perspective.
Two Scottish companies - Skyrora and Orbex - are already repurposing waste from biodiesel and plastics to produce a ‘green’ rocket fuel.
In early 2022 Skyrora opened a new launch vehicle manufacturing and production facility near Glasgow. The largest plant of its kind in the UK, the facility will build rockets to carry small satellites into orbit.
Clearing the skies
Scotland takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and our new Space Sustainability: Roadmap for Scotland includes a commitment to reduce space debris in Earth's orbit. One such project has come from the University of Strathclyde. A team have been working on space sensors to detect and analyse how such junk fragments on re-entry.
Looking up, looking down
Scottish space technology is also helping to tackle the twin global problems of biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.
Eolas Insight, in Glasgow, is working with the European Space Agency to track elephant migration in Mozambique to improve environmental conservation.
Alongside fellow Glasgow tech start-up Omanos Analytics it will use the satellite data it records to reduce the social and environmental impacts of critical infrastructure projects. The data can be used to ensure that projects do not obstruct migration routes, so elephants can continue to have safe passages
The project is based on previous work the start-up did with NatureScot, using satellites to track changes in Scotland’s wild red deer population.
This isn’t only good global citizenship, if there is anyone out there, it’s good intergalactic citizenship.
We have lift-off!
Find out more about Scotland's thriving space industry and explore the opportunities to locate, operate and grow your space project in Scotland by visiting Scotland's space industry opportunities and end-to-end space capabilities (sdi.co.uk).
You can also find out more about Scotland’s strongest industries by visiting our page on Scotland’s key business sectors.