Space Scotland welcomes
inaugural Executive Director
The Scottish space sector’s
rapid ascent has charted another milestone with the
appointment of a highly credentialed expert to lead
the industry’s representative body.
Dr Hina Khan joins Space
Scotland as its first-ever Executive Director
bringing more than 25 years’ experience in the space
industry and with plans to use her expertise to help
accelerate the sector’s growth and collaboration.
Having previously worked at
NASA, the European Space Agency and the leading
space-based data and analytics firm, Spire, Hina has
been in the space sector for all of her working life
and is looking forward to bringing a fresh
perspective to the industry.
Space Scotland provides a
single voice to represent the collective Scottish
industrial space community with the aim of enabling,
promoting and growing the sector within the wider UK
space proposition. The industry-led body is made up
of 60 space companies, as well as academia and
government officials, including Trade Minister, Ivan
McKee.
Space Scotland’s vision is for
Scotland to become the best place on Earth to build
a Space Business. It aims to help the sector achieve
a goal of contributing more than £4billion annually
to the Scottish economy by 2030.
Hina, from Glasgow, said:
“Landing a leading role at Space Scotland really was
my dream and when I heard about the opportunity, I
knew this was something that I had to be part of.
“Throughout my career, I have
helped numerous companies drive forward their
ambitions in space technology, so much so that when
I was offered the Executive Director position, I
couldn’t have imagined a better fit.
“I like to look at my role as
ensuring that space capabilities are utilised by
people who need it as part of their infrastructure
and for business connections. Understanding space
technology can help us conceptualise the bigger
picture and how space benefits our everyday life,
from agriculture, to the energy that heats our homes
to the simple act of making a phone call.
“The space sector in Scotland
is a very close-knit community which creates
togetherness for businesses across the board. This
means that we can connect with the people who make
the decisions very quickly to create real and
tangible outcomes, which is a great benefit.”
As well as the Executive
Director role, the Cluster Manager position at Space
Scotland has also been filled by space, health and
energy expert, Dr Natasha Nicholson, with further
roles set to be filled over the coming months.
Hina added: “The first few
months in my role will be spent ensuring that we
build a strong team so that we have the right people
in place to drive our space strategy forward and
implement it in a practical way, making sure that
our goals align with what the government want to
achieve.
“I am really looking forward to
the many exciting years ahead in this flourishing
and diverse sector and I hope that the establishment
of Space Scotland will continue to have a greatly
positive impact – one that I am thrilled to be
leading on.”
Funding for Hina’s appointment,
as well as the other roles in the organisation, has
come from Scottish Enterprise, following an initial
UK Space Agency grant to formalise the Scottish
space cluster through Space Scotland.
Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK
Space Agency, said: “As home to around a fifth of
all space jobs in the UK, Scotland is a vital part
of our growing space sector.
“We have provided funding for
Space Scotland because we recognise the important
work they are doing to champion space, catalyse
investment and create jobs. I’d like to congratulate
Hina and Space Scotland on this appointment. Hina
has a wealth of experience and I am sure she, and
her team, will drive Scotland’s space sector to new
heights.”
Daniel Smith, Director of Space
Scotland, stated: “Hina’s impressive space sector
background covers both business and academia,
working locally within Scotland but also
internationally. This experience, combined with
connections across governments and international
space agencies, really helped her stand out to us
among the list of high-calibre candidates.
“It’s a testament to the years
of voluntary effort put in by all Space Scotland
representatives that the organisation has reached a
level of maturity where it can secure the funding
necessary to attract individuals like Hina and
Natasha to support the sector’s needs. I’m looking
forward to the results of their collaboration with
our current Chairperson, Craig Clark MBE, and our
many members, in addressing sectoral challenges and
opportunities.
“I’d like to highlight the
support from Scottish Government and its agencies,
as well as the UK Space Agency, in helping us build
this foundation ahead of what I’m sure will be
another positive year for commercial space, across
the UK and globally.”
Originally named the Scottish
Space Leadership Council (SSLC), Space Scotland was
founded in late-2016 by a group of like-minded
Scottish space industry professionals who recognised
the huge potential for the sector to develop in
Scotland.
The Council has welcomed
partners from the wider UK sector and organised
industry events and consultations that are focused
on supporting and enhancing the space proposition
for the whole of the United Kingdom. They seek to
provide a platform for industry, academia and
government officials to work collaboratively,
promote the sector and take a united approach to
shared challenges via working groups such as the
Environmental Task Force, UK Spaceports Alliance and
New Voices in Space.
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