On June 18th, AstroAgency founder Daniel Smith was invited to present on a webinar for the US based Global Spaceport Alliance, discussing the UK space cluster landscape and developing spaceports from Cornwall up to Saxa Vord.
This series explores emerging opportunities in the space industry, and alongside Daniel the ‘Creating Spaceport Space Clusters’ episode featured panellists George Nield, Francis Walker, Gemma Wilson, Ross Hulbert, and David Alexander OBE.
To learn more about how spaceports and clusters are developing, and to hear Daniel and his fellow panellists discuss these topics in detail, listen to the full webinar here.
In his role as director at AstroAgency, Daniel hopes to transform the perception of space to capture not just exploration and deep space missions, but focus on the economic and societal benefits that derive from the industry. During the webinar, he shared how AstroAgency has collaborated with U.K. space clusters to promote their supply chain companies and ensure they are connected with international space industry developments. In doing so, we help local clusters leverage the latest space technologies and strategies.
Additionally, Daniel co-founded Fire Arrow, a company looking to leverage its management team’s experience in working with multiple developing U.K spaceports, to support other nations seeking to design, build and licence their own spaceflight capability. Daniel is also Founding Director of Space Scotland, representing around 180 organisations forming the Scottish space sector, including five developing spaceports (vertical and horizontal launch).
The Impact of Spaceports
Daniel elaborated on the economic benefits of combining spaceports with regional clusters of wider supply chain activity, including job creation and inward investment, highlighting the importance of these space cluster stakeholders engage with adjacent sectors and the wider public. Spaceports drive economic growth, opening access to local supply chains, creating a skilled workforce, offering networking activity, and providing inspiration to students and young people looking for opportunities to work in space.
Additionally, spaceports can encourage more environmentally conscious space flight by adopting sustainable practices from the launch site and beyond. With eco-friendly technologies and a minimised environmental impact of launches, space exploration can look ahead to a more sustainable future if space hubs work together to collaborate on space sustainability.