Scottish space industry's ambition for £4bn growth trajectory

Scottish space industry could provide a launch pad for growth of Scottish economy and provides solutions to tackle climate change too.

The rise of the space sector is apparent in the figures from a recent study conducted by Scottish Enterprise that forecast income from the sector could reach over £2 billion by 2030 as well as contribute data solutions to combat climate change.

The industry ambition is to double income to £4 billion over the next ten years and with a rate of growth of 12% year-on-year it is on a steady path due to the commercial responsiveness in what’s described as the ‘new space’ operating environment.

New space takes in three distinct areas: space applications; manufacturing and operations as well as auxiliary services and Scottish Enterprise has supported many companies working across the space sector from Spire Global, Celestia, Clyde Space to Space Intelligence.

Spire Global, a data and analytics company, builds, tests and operates the world’s fourth largest fleet of nanosatellites tracking aviation, maritime and weather patterns and received a combined investment and grant of £14.7 million last year from Scottish Enterprise.

Spire Global is set to send the first of four nanosatellites to space today (September 28) with powerful super computers on board to track world trade and predict the arrival time of boats to help port authorities manage docks safely.

Recently the company has provided its weather data free of charge to weather forecasting centres around the world including the UK MET Office as the coronavirus pandemic and loss of aircraft data impacted weather forecasting.

The company has also secured a $7 million deal with NASA to provide data to scientists for use in Earth-observing missions and early projects have shown the potential to improve weather forecast accuracy.

CEO of Spire Peter Platzer said the deal with NASA was a landmark moment for the company and the space industry and feels that space and Earth observation have a strategic role in meeting European and global challenges, such as pandemics and climate change.

He added: “Weather risk for companies, governments, and people is constantly increasing due to climate change and is maybe the biggest generational challenges we face. Spire is incredibly humbled and inspired that our data and analytics can meaningfully contribute to the world facing this challenge collaboratively and globally.”

A report in European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in July looking at space start-ups has highlighted that a third of all UK investments was in Scotland and due in part to investment by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.

Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation Ivan McKee said: “Our ambition is to capture the substantial economic benefits of the emerging global space sector by ensuring Scotland becomes the first country in Europe to provide an end-to-end solution for small satellite manufacture, launch and innovation in satellite data analysis, including critical earth observation and environmental data.

“Scotland is proud to be the home of the rapidly-expanding commercial space sector which is supported by the close collaboration between government, industry and academia through the Scottish Space Leadership Council.

“The space sector in Scotland also has a key role to play in tackling climate change. Having the ability to launch satellites here in Scotland will enable the expansion and enhancement of earth observation and environmental data which will enable a real and meaningful contribution to efforts to tackle the climate emergency.” 

Scottish Enterprise director of national opportunities David Smith said: “In Scotland the whole eco-system around the space sector is attractive to companies from the strong R&D base to the talent around data science, high value manufacturing and collaboration through the Scottish Space Leadership Council.

“It is great to see the continued growth and ambition to double the forecast income to £4 billion by 2030 and although there is a long way to go there is a wealth of talent to get there alongside support from Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.

“It is an exciting time for space and as we emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic it is important to focus on areas of strength in our economy. Not only that but with climate change and our focus on green recovery the space data sector also has a key role in delivering net zero ambitions too.”

Scottish space entrepreneur and director of strategic marketing firm AstroAgency Daniel Smith is passionate about the commercial space sector and said: “Scotland has a long history of innovation in space, dating back to when rockets were first launched in the 1930s by the Paisley Rocketeers to now a rising star sector producing more small satellites than anywhere outside of California.

“The opportunity to lead and not just become another extra is based around our ‘one stop shop’ aspect; it is very rare that a single nation can boast the capability to perform each and every element of the lucrative ‘new space’ value chain, particularly in Europe.

“Fostering an ecosystem that encourages new partnerships and actively seeks out international collaboration will always be a key ingredient to achieving success in the global space market.

“The partnership between industry and government is also crucial in placing the Scottish space ‘movement’ at the forefront of the European market. It’s a huge opportunity, with further work taking place by the Scottish Space Leadership Council and UK agencies to strengthen networks and provides a stimulus for future engagement, knowledge sharing and growth.”