ARTICLE IN PRESS

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doi:10.1016/j.sp

E-mail addr1Chairman, W

Space Policy 23 (2007) 241–242

www.elsevier.com/locate/spacepol

Report

New business opportunities in space

David Ashford1

Bristol Spaceplanes, 3 Forest Hills, Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4DN, UK

Available online 18 October 2007

Abstract

Outside the big space industry conglomerates, there are a number of much smaller firms, often with great specialist expertise, in

existence. A concentration of such companies is found around the aerospace centre of Bristol in Southwest England; these companies are

seeking to expand the UK space business and explore new opportunities, not only in traditional fields but also in up-and-coming areas

such as exploration and space tourism. To this end their forum held a one-day conference in Exeter. One of their members reports on the

proceedings.

r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) SpaceWorking Group (SWG) held its first conference in Exeter,UK on 24 July 2007. Its aims were to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas between the traditional and thetourism space communities, to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to explore new opportunities, andto lead to an expansion of UK space business. We nowhave a much clearer idea of how to achieve these outcomes.

The conference was opened with a welcome andintroduction by WEAF’s Executive Director HowardChesterton, which was followed by a range of presentations.

Andy Payne, who is the British National Space Centre(BNSC) Manager of Industrial Policy, explained how civilspace in the UK is organised and coordinated through theBNSC, a partnership of government departments, researchcouncils and the Met Office. BNSC is now hosted by thenew Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills andthe new Space Minister is Ian Pearson.

Mr. Payne continued by saying that UK space activity ismainly undertaken in cooperation with European partnersthrough the European Space Agency (ESA), Eumetsat, andthe EC’s Framework 7 Programme. The UK has a highlydeveloped and successful space industry. It has shownstrong growth, contributing £6.8 billion to UK GDP andemploying 70,000 people directly and indirectly. UKcompanies participate in all the major areas of space

e front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

acepol.2007.09.007

ess: David.Ashford@bristolspaceplanes.com

est of England Aerospace Forum Space Working Group.

activity—telecommunications; broadcasting; navigation;global monitoring and Earth sciences; and planetary anddeep space astronomy missions.Alastair Scott, who is the Communications and PR

Advisor (UK) for EADS Astrium, presented Vision 2025,in which satellites play a much greater part in all our lives.He also showed a video of the EADS Astrium spaceplanefor suborbital tourist flights.Graham Harrison of the South West Regional Develop-

ment Agency (SWRDA) described what industry would haveto do to unlock funding for a space initiative. Industry wouldhave to produce an authoritative documentation of thebusiness case; the programme would have to be sustainableand led by people who can deliver. He mentioned recentprogrammes initiated by the Aerospace Innovation andGrowth Team (AeIGT) as successful exemplars.Stuart Eves, Senior Account Manager at Surrey Satellite

Technology Ltd., described their very successful pro-gramme of small satellites, 27 of which have been launchedso far. In particular, he elaborated on the proposed probesto form part of the Aurora exploration programme,MoonLITE and Moonraker.Chris Chaloner of SEA (Group) Ltd., a SME operating in

the Southwest of England and active in several marketdomains which require similar skills, described some of theproblems facing a Southwest SME trying to make a living inthe space business. Chris continued by saying that the UKgovernment performs most of its space activities throughinternational organisations (ESA and Eumetsat). Operating

ARTICLE IN PRESSD. Ashford / Space Policy 23 (2007) 241–242242

in a complex multinational procurement environment ischallenging; in addition to first-class technical and manage-ment skills a full understanding of the ‘‘political’’ environ-ment is necessary. The industrial contracting environment ismore complex than, say, the aircraft manufacturing domain:while the two large system integrators of Europe dominatethe spacecraft-level contracts and are the customers forequipment supply, SMEs such as SEA frequently leadtechnology developments, and may often have the largemultinationals as subcontractors. He pointed out that ‘‘thetechnical challenges (which bring us into close collaborationwith academia) and project management rigour of the spacebusiness are attractive to a company such as ours partlybecause of the benefits to the other sectors of the business’’.He concluded that it is not an easy industry, but first-classcompanies can make a living in space.

Roger Buckley of IGG components described hiscompany’s facilities and expertise in selecting and evaluat-ing components for use in spacecraft. Space programmesneed parts suitable for their strict application requirements,and equipment manufacturers must ensure that all thetechnical, quality, reliability and radiation specificationsare met by the EEE components they select.

The IGG presentation covered the history and facilities ofIGG and the solutions they provide. In addition, the EEEComponent Testing Laboratory, Engineering Consultancyand Parts Procurement Management activities were outlined.In space, radiation has a negative effect on components,equipment, and systems. IGG has experience in characteris-ing the radiation environment and can test for total dose(gamma) radiation and Single Event Effects (SEE).

1. Opportunities for the Southwest

Chris Lee, a sales manager at SciSys, suggested thatNASA’s Exploration Initiative could provide an opportu-nity for WEAF members to play a leading part. SciSyshave a vision that suggests that the Southwest could onceagain become a significant technology partner in thedeveloping UK agenda of ‘space exploration’. Mr. Leetherefore both presented the capabilities of SciSys incurrent programmes and also outlined what emergingspace opportunities match strengths of the Southwestindustrial base. He particularly noted the need for a moreactive dialogue between the emerging industrial spacecommunity and SWRDA in a manner that balances similarregional space initiatives occurring elsewhere in the UK.

Paul Howes and Chris Adlington described progress atStarchaser Industries. Several rocket flights have takenplace, several rocket engines have been tested, and theyexpect to carry the first passengers on sub-orbital flights inabout 5 years.

Enrico Palermo described Virgin Galactic’s plans forcarrying passengers on sub-orbital flights. SpaceShipTwo isexpected to make its first flight in 2008, and commercialoperations should start in late 2009 or early 2010.Virgin Galactic (VG) is the operator of the new sub-

orbital spaceship ‘SpaceShipTwo’ (SS2) currently underdevelopment at Scaled Composites. The new spaceship isbased on the tried and tested SpaceShipOne, which won theAnsari X-Prize. SS2 has a composite construction, result-ing in a structure that is very light, strong and efficient.Mr. Palermo described how Virgin Galactic customerswould be propelled into space via a two-stage horizontallaunch mechanism. SS2 would be carried to �50,000 ftusing the carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo (WK2). At thisaltitude, WK2 would release SS2 and a few seconds later ahybrid rocket motor would propel SS2 to space. After theexhilarating rocket motor boost is complete, customerswould experience the amazing sensation of weightlessfloating in zero-g, as well as enjoying the spectacular viewsof our home planet. For re-entry into the atmosphere, SS2will employ a unique wing feathering technology thatpermits a slow and controlled re-entry without the need foradvanced thermal protection systems. SS2 will then landun-powered on a runway. Virgin Galactic is currentlyoptimizing the entire experience and the SS2 cabin design.Our astronauts will undergo 3 days of preparation, trainingand team building. Its operations headquarters will be atthe landmark Spaceport America, in the US state of NewMexico.David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes suggested that

there would be a transformation of spaceflight as soon asthe private sector develops orbital spaceplanes as follow-ons to the suborbital spaceplanes at present underdevelopment. These would greatly reduce the cost oflaunching spacecraft. This in turn would also greatlyreduce the cost of the spacecraft themselves, which wouldno longer have to be designed to last for 10 years untended.In the case of space stations, even greater cost reductionswould be possible because it would be practicable to rescuethe crew in emergencies, and design standards could berelaxed appropriately.The ‘aviation’ approach to sending people back to the

Moon would cost about 10 times less than the presentlyplanned approach using large new expendable launchers.The present approach is unlikely to last for much longer.Mr. Ashford showed how Bristol could become the centreof a large new European spaceplane industry.The consensus during the discussion period was that

there is an opportunity for Southwest England to lead amajor space initiative, but that the next move has to comefrom industry. The SWG will consider what it should donext, and will be taking suggestions in the meantime.