How space tech can help solve our problems here on Earth: your guide to Space-Comm Expo Scotland in Glasgow

Hayley Bray Photography

Space-Comm Expo will be the biggest space industry event ever in Scotland when it takes place in SEC Glasgow from 11-12 September.

It’s set to shine a light on the country’s rapidly expanding industry, with interest heighted by Scotland’s ambitions for launch capabilities by the end of the year and its plans to become Europe’s leading space nation by 2030.

“Having Space-Comm Expo come to Scotland is testament of the expanding and exhilarating space sector that we have in Scotland,” says Hina Khan, Executive Director of Space Scotland

“There's been this bubbling energy in Scotland over the last 10-15 years and that didn't come from nowhere. There was always an acknowledgement that there was a really strong heritage of space-based research within our academic institutes, but also within our industry segment, a lot of engineering excellence related to mobile technologies, mobile phones, subsystems, power systems – and all these have facilitated the growth of the space industry.

“These are the building blocks of what has become the space industry here.”

Hayley Bray Photography

The programme at Space-Comm Expo will include discussions on spaceports, launch capabilities, satellite manufacturing, downstream data, AI, cyber security, space law, investment and space sustainability.

Over 3,000 visitors are expected with 75 exhibitors, 50 speakers and registration is FREE to attend. Find out more today at https://space-comm-scotland.co.uk/

Harnessing the potential benefits for Earth

The event will be co-chaired by Will Whitehorn, a former president of Virgin Galactic and head of the Seraphim Space Investment Trust which invests in nearly 30 spacetech companies around the globe.

He says he's interested in 'new space' - referring to the new generation of satellite and launch companies like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin - not because he was obsessed with the moon landings as a boy, but because of the potential it offers for life on Earth right here and now. “The industry is doing so many things on the ground that we don’t realise it is doing for us,” explains Whitehorn.

But he also cites the fascinating and inspiring possibilities that lie ahead – not just rockets heading to Mars, but a focus on harnessing the power of satellites and even exploiting the deposits of rare materials on the Moon.

With power-hungry data centres now responsible for so much energy consumption, they are ‘ideal’ to be farmed out to space – meaning space-based data centres could soon be a reality. “If we can get that type of tech out of the atmosphere, we are onto a winner,” says Whitehorn.

Exploring new sources of energy

Space solar has huge potential: Stuart Martin, chair of Space Solar, will be among the many inspiring speakers at Space-Comm, explaining how massive solar arrays in space could transmit that power to Earth and hugely increase our capacity for renewable energy, no matter the weather.

“We could know how to make massive amounts of solar out in space and transmit it down the planet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, relatively quickly,” says Whitehorn.

Then there’s the possibility of mining Helium-3 on the Moon, an isotope that can be used in nuclear fusion to produce energy without any harmful waste.

Whitehorn is direct about the fact we need to face up to our future – and fast. “For human beings to survive what we have done, we are going to have to do things that are very difficult. I am a huge believer in space being that answer and the solution… and never the problem.”

Taking sustainability to new heights

When asked why we are putting efforts into space when the Earth faces a looming climate crisis, he is unequivocal about the benefits for the future of the planet. “Without space, we simply couldn’t solve those problems. Space is already saving our bacon in ways people don’t think about because they take it for granted.”

For Whitehorn, “we wouldn’t understand what is happening to the climate, we wouldn’t know the state of play without space”; it was satellites that allowed scientists to spot the hole in the ozone layer, for example.

And space tech contributes to our daily lives in so many ways. Whitehorn cites the example of GPS satellites which help to track food as it is travels around the world; without that monitoring from space, up to 15% of the world’s food production would be spoiled as it would end up getting lost.

He also refers to automated farm systems dependent on GPS or weather satellites that power systems to warn farmers when a typhoon is imminent, as well as applications in the agricultural industry where satellites spot the first changes to leaves and enable targeted treatment instead of a blanket response.

Hayley Bray Photography

So why Scotland? And why now?

A newly released report, ‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry 2023’, estimates that 12% of the sector's employment is now in Scotland; the UK's space industry contributes £7.2bn to UK GDP and two out of three organisations expect their income to grow over the next three years. This means that as well as boosting employment now, the projected progression of the industry also means jobs for the next generation.

It’s the proximity of so many organisations offering services from launching satellites to harnessing the big data they generate that makes Scotland so unique, says Space Scotland’s Khan.

“Once you get a large amount of data from a third source, what do you do with that? How do you manage it? How do you engage it? How do you deliver it into something which is useful? And again, that's something that's been going on within our academic and innovation spheres for a long time. It was a coming together of all of these things with a Scottish entrepreneurial spirit that has led to the lightbulb moment that actually, we could bring some of these things together and start to direct attention to a space-based environment.”

Once companies like Spire Global started to have a presence, that lent the necessary momentum, she adds.

Like Whitehorn, she cites the myriad applications for satellites – which many people are blissfully unaware of, from operating the global trading system to maintaining food security, tracking extreme weather or detecting wildfires.

“All of those things have a place in Scotland because it's Scottish companies, it's Scottish academics, it's industry, it's universities, it's innovation happening here in Scotland that's leading to some of those things. It's not that you can't do these things anywhere else, but we offer the ability to do all of these things within essentially a few hundred miles of each other, which is not something that happens anywhere else in the world.”

How to get involved

Space-Comm Expo Scotland offers a two-day programme of world-class content across plenary sessions and separate Keynote and Downstream theatres. The award-winning format from organisers Hub Exhibitions includes exhibitors, product demonstrations, speakers, panel sessions and 1-2-1 networking opportunities

Register for your free place today at space-comm-scotland.co.uk/visit