Exclusive:Inside the new space race and Scotland’s mission to 51st launch

Scotland is at the forefront of a new space race and could celebrate Europe’s first orbital launch - but the nation’s Space Envoy says even the sky should not be the limit for the industry.

The 20th century battle for solar supremacy fought between cold war rivals the United States and the Soviet Union was a period dominated by government investment.

The modern market, both inside and outside those global powers, has been transformed into a largely private enterprise and Scotland’s burgeoning industry has reached ‘maturity’.

Scotland is at the forefront of a new space race and could celebrate Europe’s first orbital launch - but the nation’s Space Envoy says even the sky should not be the limit for the industry. | Daniel Smith / Orbex

Now national space envoy Daniel Smith, renowned as one of the domestic sector’s most energetic entrepreneurs, has said Scotland should be targeting not just Europe’s record first orbital launch (to date, Europe has had success in sub-orbital projects only), but an entire generation of space flight.

Smith, founding director of five space firms since 2017 including AstroAgency, said: “If you look around Europe, I think we're in the best position in terms of first launch. What I would say, though, is that it's not going to be about the first launch. It's going to be about the 51st launch. You need a sustainable space sector.

“My thing is always environmental sustainability, but on this occasion, I mean commercial sustainability.

“That first launch would be great, and it's great that we're in that position, and absolutely get a massive boost from that. But we've also got to keep our eye on the long term goal here, which is to be Europe's home of space flight for the next 20 or 30 years, and not just one or two years.”

While the dominant American market - led by tech billionaires like Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) pepper orbit with satellites and manned spacecraft, the Scottish market - Smith explains - is focused on an end-to-end service which could make space a pillar of the economy.

The 2023 Size and Health of the UK Space Industry government report revealed Scotland accounts for around 12 per cent of British space industry employment, only trumped by London and the South East of England.

CNN Space Strategy Launch | Daniel Smith

Scotland punches above its weight and that is not by accident.

Smith, three-time Sir Arthur Clarke Award finalist for services to space sector, continued: “I always tell this story of a week where I had a situation where I went to get my hair cut, and I’m talking about what I’ll be doing that day. I just went into the zone talking about this new satellite client, and I could see him sort of moving the scissors away from me.

“Then in that same week, I jumped in a taxi outside and mentioned I work in the space industry, and he said ‘do you know we build more small satellites in Glasgow than anywhere else in the world outside of the US? I was like, man, I could hug you.”

Smith founded AstroAgency, the first space-focused marketing agency, and said the swell of professional services firms now working with engineers and designers is a sign the Scottish sector is reaching maturity.

“People didn’t want to speak to professional services companies. Now, once we get layers and recruiters and marketing agencies involved in space, people change their view, and realise that it’s needed for any large sector. We just weren’t at that point back then.

On Wednesday Orbex, a rocket manufacturing company which was also constructing the spaceport, suddenly announced it is pausing development at Sutherland and will instead launch from the rival SaxaVord Spaceport on the northern tip of the Shetland Islands. | PA / Orbex

“I want people to understand what’s being launched: it’s not people, it’s satellites. And what are those satellites for, how do they benefit Earth? I think if we can somehow use that first launch to inform people, to make them think about the benefits space brings to their everyday lives and how often we use satellites, that launch is so important.”

Smith - who in his role as Scotland’s first government-appointed space trade envoy promotes the country’s investment potential - said the ‘full value chain’ in the Scottish sector plays an important role in growing the industry.

Once orbital and sub-orbital launches are underway, every step of the satellite process can and will be conducted in Scotland: design, manufacture, payload, launch and then downstream use of the data collected by the satellites.

The applications are remarkable: already Scottish firms are using data from Scottish satellites in the energy, maritime, logistics, forestry and fishing sectors. ACC Clyde Space, for instance, gathers stress, pests and disease data in trees and wild plants to aid early detection.

First Minister John Swinney and Space Envoy Daniel Smith | Daniel Smith

“End user application information from satellites, applying that to our everyday lives, in our industry, that’s where the growth is. There are only so many launches you can do, there’re only so many spaceports you can have, but application is limited only by your imagination.

“The European Space Agency is working with UEFA on how they can use satellite data for football. I just love all the ways you can use space data.”

“It’s not about space, it’s about earth. That’s the bottom line for me,” Smith added.

Business Minister Richard Lochhead, on Smith’s appointment in 2024, said the government’s ambition is to capture £4bn of the global space market.

Last month it was announced that the UK government is pumping £20 million of taxpayers’ money into a Scottish space pioneer in a “first of a kind” move that should help support 140 jobs and create many more.

The investment into Forres-based Orbex will help to fund the construction and launch of the first orbital rocket manufactured in the UK and launched from British soil, ministers said.

UK technology secretary Peter Kyle announced the investment at the European Space Conference in Brussels.