The first meeting of the North West Space Cluster supported by the Northern Space Consortium was held in the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Liverpool on the 13th October. The date was chosen as date of the founding of the British Interplanetary Society in Liverpool in 1933.
The Industrial Solutions Hub (ISH), an enterprise social value initiative based in Cleaton Moor, Cumbria held a Space Event week starting on 26th June the aims of which were to explore the opportunities in the Space industry that West Cumbria, with it’s skills and expertise especially in nuclear work, could exploit and also to make young people aware of future Space opportunities and the NSC and some members were there to support it.
The third Space Cluster meeting was held at Daresbury on May 25th 2023. Following an introduction by Alan Cross, Paul Vernon the Head of Daresbury Laboratory described the fantastic facilities at the Laboratory and some of the ground breaking work being done there. Alan Cross then explained how the industry had expanded in the region over the first year of the Cluster’s existence and some of the successes.
On the 26th May over 120 delegates attended the formal launch of the North West Space Cluster at the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) headquarters at Jodrell Bank. Attendees included local companies, organisations and academic institutions as well as the Science Minister George Freeman MP and Paul Bate the head of the UK Space Agency.
George Freeman explained how the North West Space Cluster is a strategic part of the government’s National Space Strategy, to:
level up the UK
double the UK’s share of the global space market by 2030
strengthen the UK status as a leading international space power
The UK space industry has trebled in size since 2010 and is now worth £16.5 billion per annum. According to the size and health report (2019 to 2020) the turn over of space related activities in the north west increased by approximately 275% in one single year. Much of this growth was in advanced manufacturing and engineering and digital technologies and applications. All are areas where the region’s skills and expertise are internationally recognised.
Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive at the UK Space Agency:
“The UK Space Agency is committed to levelling up the UK space sector by catalysing investment, leveraging local strengths and attracting new talent to this exciting industry.
Through the local growth cluster fund, we are accelerating the growth of space activities across the country, and I’m delighted to see the official launch of the North West of England’s Space Cluster.
By capitalising on local expertise and improving connections across the UK space landscape with clusters, we can stimulate the investment, innovation and partnerships needed to cement the UK’s role as a science superpower and spacefaring nation.”
STFC, through its Daresbury Laboratory, at Sci-Tech Daresbury has worked with the cluster partners to develop the North West Space Cluster Strategy that will:
drive collaboration and competition, enabling the promotion of the region’s capabilities
export the north-west’s business and space strengths nationally and internationally
evolve the regional space economy to drive productivity and increased investment
embed the opportunities presented by space within local communities.
Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Cluster Development at STFC, said:
“The space industry is playing an increasingly valuable role in supporting UK regional innovation which brings economic benefits, such as high value jobs and skills development opportunities.
Our cluster strategy highlights an exceptional opportunity for the north-west region, using space as an attractor that leverages local strengths, such as digital, advanced materials and defence. This will enhance their economic impact across the UK and competitiveness at a global scale.
STFC’s support for the North West Space Cluster builds on a heritage of developing successful industrial innovation clusters, which have generated an average growth of 20% per annum in terms of jobs. These clusters include the HealthTech and Digital Clusters at Daresbury, and the Space, Energytec and Healthtec Clusters at Harwell.”
Paul Vernon, Head of STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, added:
“As a key player in the space industry in the UK, STFC has taken leadership in the development of space clusters. The formal launch of the North West Space Cluster marks a catalyst for growth for the region, exploiting the unique and broad mix of facilities and talent across both STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory and its nationwide partners and networks.
The Cluster’s strategy connects our business communities with the world class science facilities we have here on our doorstep, and this will drive innovation, bringing multiple, tangible benefits to society.
I look forward to working with our collaborators in our efforts to support the government mission to establish the UK as a leading space superpower, whilst enabling our regional businesses to take advantage of the opportunities this will bring.”
Professor Philip Diamond, SKAO Director-General: “I am delighted that the North West Space Cluster is being launched at SKAO HQ, alongside our long-time partners STFC.
Science is based on collaboration, and this new cluster will create links between business and academic institutions, developing a broader space community in which we can share expertise and learn from one another in support of our respective missions.
As the major international hub for space science through radio astronomy with its headquarters in the North West of England, the SKAO exemplifies how this region can be a magnet for highly skilled professionals. They bring with them knowledge and experience across a range of specialisms that enrich our organisations and the wider region. We are proud to be part of this exciting new endeavour.”
Bob Morris, Chairman, Northern Space Consortium, said:
“We are excited to see the formal launch of the North West Space Cluster. The Cluster will enable the space industry in our region to expand much more rapidly.
Not only will this benefit the north-west but, with all our skills and expertise, it will also help the UK to achieve its goal of realising 10% of the world space business.
We look forward to continuing to work with all the other stakeholders and STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory in supporting the Cluster.
Also, we encourage all our members and anyone else in our region, whether already involved in the space industry or interested to learn more about the exciting opportunities in this rapidly expanding industry, to register their interest on the Cluster website.”
World Space Week runs from the 4th to 10th October and organisations worldwide are encouraged to arrange events to promote the space industry. This year Warrington based award winning charity 4wardfutures held a series of events around the theme of Future Careers every day throughout the week at their virtual Space Expo. Unique amongst NSC members, 4wardfutures uses Space as a way of making young people, aged 6 to 25, aware of some of the present and future careers available. Following on from their successful Create a Life on Mars (CALOM) project their latest creation is a virtual Space Expo.
The Space Expo is a permanent event that is open 24 by 7 worldwide and given it’s nature has created a lot of interest. The more than 70 exhibitors at the World Space Week events included space related organisations, space companies covering everything from launchers and spacecraft to human studies and insurance, universities, student societies, award winning space architects and artists as well as work by young people. Exhibitors were not only UK based, there were also exhibitors from Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA. Local exhibitors include the Asteroid Mining Corporation, GTI Space, Arnmore, ManSEDS, SpaceSpecialists, STFC, and the NSC.
The World Space Week events were webinars with a wide range of presenters covering topics such Careers in Space, Design in Space, 3D Printed Habitats and Why are we going to Space? There were also company webinars from Inmarsat, ICEYE, Craft Prospect and Omanos, AAC ClydeSpace and Nonfiction. All the webinars were recorded.
NSC Chairman Bob Morris “Via our various contacts we helped introduce 4wardfutures and the Space Expo to the space industry nationally and internationally and as the Expo is a permanent event we will continue to do so. To have a stand all you have to do is supply 4wardfutures with the information that you want displayed on your stand and that’s it. This is a great opportunity to promote yourself worldwide and I would strongly recommend that our members participate in this”
To visit the Space Expo and see the webinars recordings go to https://www.4wardfutures.org.uk/space-careers-expo for more information on exhibiting at the Space Expo contact Mark Waters mark@4wardfutures.org.uk or Bob Morris bob.morris@thensc-uk.com
MACH-21 was a CanSat Competition and Space Careers Conference for undergraduate students that took place from the 14th to 16th July at the Machrihanish Airbase in Scotland. The event was arranged by Discover Space UK, a joint venture between UK Launch Services Limited and the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company and the Northern Space Consortium was happy to lend it’s support at various stages in the competition.
Student teams had to design and build a CanSat (a small satellite about the size of a drinks can) that would be launched and the success of the satellite would be measured. The CanSats were launched by UK suborbital launch company Gravitilab Aerospace Services.
There were two sizes of CanSat, the Peake Cansat measuring 66mm by 160mm and the Sharman CanSat measuring 115mm by 160mm. In total there were 11 teams, 5 built Peake Cansats and 6 built Sharman Cansats.
The students arrived at Machrihanish on the 14th July for a site introduction and welcome dinner. The CanSat launches took place the next day followed by a networking dinner where the winners were announced. The University of Edinburgh were the winners with the Open University and Nottingham University coming second and third respectively. There were also awards for Safety, Creativity in Design, Most Ambitious Design and Post Flight Presentation. Finally there was a Space Careers Conference on Friday the 16th with a wide range of industry professionals participating in person and virtually.
As this was the first time that this event had been arranged the organisers initially were looking for volunteers to help out throughout the overall event and the NSC was able to put them in contact with some of the University of Manchester students who had relevant experience. As a result of this NSC Chairman Bob Morris was invited to attend the student teams design reviews that were held virtually in April and was also one of the guest speakers at the Space Careers Conference at the end of the event.
Bob commented “This event was a great opportunity for students to develop a whole range of skills from the practical design and build of a small satellite and then participating in a launch and measuring the results. As well as this they had to learn to work as a team and also had the opportunity to meet and network with industry professionals. I understand that there will be a MACH-22 event next year and would strongly recommend that any students in our region interested in working in the space industry participate in it.”
For more information on MACH-21 contact bob.morris@TheNSC-UK.com
