Britain joins NASA on Space Mission – The space sector is one of Britain’s great success stories and one of its best kept secrets. British companies include small start up companies like Bird.i who bring high quality satellite images to the mass market to Virgin Galactic who intend to provide the worlds first commercial space flights.
Over the next few weeks nine companies selected through a competitive process by UK Innovate and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) will meet with US counterparts at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah and then move to California to meet with the teams from NASA, Virgin Galactic and Lockheed Martin.
The visits are designed to promote collaboration between the US and UK around space sector business. Both countries have been involved in space related activities over the past few decades. Tim Just, Head of Space at UK Innovate and UK delegate to the European Space Agency said:
“The UK has a long history in the space sector we were one of he first nations in the world to launch our own satellite systems into orbit and the UK remains a real hot-bed of innovation. There are a number of reasons for this we are seeing an evolution of how people use existing satellites and infrastructure but also how people can adopt and use new small satellites and even ‘cube-sats’ for new commercial services.”
The companies going to the USA include Pocket Cube who say they can get a fully functional satellite into orbit for less than the price of a new car. Their website is interesting but will not fill a prospective buyer with confidence. Pocket Cube is clearly a startup company and looks like it. The fact that they have been chosen for this trip, on the other hand, suggests that behind the poor marketing is a substantial product. It is definitely a good idea and one to watch.
One of the more established companies representing the British Space contingent is Oxford Space Systems. OSS has focused its efforts in three very specific areas; deployable panels, flexible composite boom systems and large deployable antennas. Their intent is to become the leading global supplier of deployable space structures. Looking at the team behind the company, it is easy to see why they have this view.
The range of companies going on this mission to the USA could not be more diverse and as such represent Britain’s efforts well. A full list of the nine companies and links can be found at Gov.UK
