COMPANIES from across Scotland’s space sector have taken part in the first summit to promote Scotland’s fast-growing space industry.
Hosted in Denmark, the inaugural Space Scotland Nordics Summit is the latest in a series of international engagements to showcase the industry. It comes as the UK Space Agency is opening an office in Scotland for the first time.
Scottish Government External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson attended the event, hosted by the British Embassy in Copenhagen and supported by Scottish Development International (SDI) and space communications firm AstroAgency.
READ MORE: Scottish Islands Peaks Race: What and when is it?
Around 50 stakeholders attended to provide a platform for industry, government and academia to share knowledge and explore opportunities for collaboration.
The sector aims to provide 20,000 jobs within the next decade and contribute £4 billion to the country's economy, with international collaboration as part of trade and export opportunities seen as key to enabling those ambitions.
Robertson said: “Scotland is an ideal partner for Nordic space sector companies, given our shared priorities around competitiveness, social responsibility, and embedding sustainability in all that we do.
“From Glasgow and Edinburgh to Sutherland and Saxa Vord, Scotland’s world-class offerings in manufacturing, space access and satellite data processing, combined with our potential as a ‘full value chain’ for space industries, means we are well-placed to build on the already strong ties established between the Scottish and Nordic space sectors.
“Through these shared perspectives I hope we can find new ways to work together and make northern Europe the most innovative, the most integrated, and the most sustainable place on earth for the space sector to grow and thrive.”
Soren Gram Riisegaard, senior trade specialist for technology at SDI added: “We’re very excited to have welcomed Scottish space representatives to Denmark, as the first in what I hope will be many ongoing engagements between Nordic countries and Scotland’s space sector going forward.
“There are clear opportunities for trade and investment between participating nations, building upon close connections around culture, business and net zero goals.
"There are space foundations too, with the countries sharing a desire to provide European access to orbit and companies like AAC Clyde Space, Orbex and ThinkTank Maths with a presence across both regions. We’re looking forward to some tangible outcomes and strengthening foundations for future partnerships.”
Scotland currently hosts multiple developing spaceports, working to offer orbital launch capability for the first time from European soil. Both Sweden and Norway also developing orbital launch capability.
The Scottish companies in Copenhagen included satellite manufacturers, launch companies Orbex and Skyrora, spaceport representatives from SaxaVord and Sutherland, and downstream space data companyEOLAS.
READ MORE: New £200m nuclear fund slammed as 'grotesque' by SNP
Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise were also represented.
Director of Space Scotland and founder of AstroAgency Daniel Smith said: “Scotland’s space sector is growing at pace, with bold ambitions and huge potential to bring a positive impact across our economy, environment and wider society.
“There are clear opportunities for collaboration with the Nordic countries around the development of launch solutions that are both environmentally and economically sustainable, as well as a variety of other avenues to explore, underpinned by common European Space Agency memberships.
“This was a chance to cover the shared challenges around skills and raising awareness of the benefits of a thriving space economy. Scottish Earth Observation companies demonstrated their capabilities around solving cross-sectoral business challenges, as well as the value they can add to local governments and the fight against climate change through the delivery of actionable, space-sourced data.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel