Blue sky thinking to boost jobs and fire up economy in Ayrshire

For decades, Ayrshire has been a place where business has literally reached into the skies.  The area has built an enviable reputation as an aerospace hub, and now its future is about to get even brighter.

This has long been a highly visible industry. Aircraft of all types and sizes are seen flying in and out – in its day, Concorde was a visitor on more than one occasion and in the present era, it’s not unknown for the mighty Antonov – the world’s largest aircraft – to stop by.

Global companies such as BAE Systems, GE Aviation, Spirit AeroSystems, Woodward and Collins Aerospace have all helped to create a specialist cluster in the area employing thousands of people.

Now, this well-established cluster – which accounts for more than half the sector’s workforce in Scotland – is set to dramatically expand as a result of the Ayrshire Growth Deal, a new partnership being driven forward by the Scottish Government, the UK Government and East, North and South Ayrshire Councils. In total, the new package is worth £250 million, with £80 million of this allocated directly to establishing Ayrshire as one of the UK’s leading aerospace centres. 

“As our new Beyond Launch tagline illustrates, the deal will position the area as a centre of technical, economic and innovation excellence”, says Mick O’Connor CEng CDir, Programme Director at Prestwick Spaceport.

“It will offer a host of opportunities beyond the spaceport, both for the aerospace sector and the people of Ayrshire.”

Prestwick has built its aerospace reputation and attracted global blue-chip companies in the sector because it has a highly skilled workforce as well as strong and evolving industrial facilities, laboratories, workshops and testing centres. “It also has incredible transport links across rail, air, sea and road”, Mr O’Connor adds. 

“The Ayrshire Growth Deal funding will further support technical infrastructure and skills development around Prestwick.
“This will equip the local aerospace sector to develop, build and test innovative technologies using advanced state-of-the art manufacturing and maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities.”

Looking forward, future growth in the aerospace sector will be catered for though the provision of high quality industrial and commercial properties. 

There is also likely to be a need for companies working in the emerging “New Space” market in areas such as rocket and satellite manufacturing – with South Ayrshire Council already in discussions with a number of potential partners in this area.

Mick O’Connor cites the planned new Aerospace and Space Innovation Centre as an example of the technical infrastructure that will come to the area. 

“It will include a visitor attraction focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and will provide a central hub to drive the development of new technologies and new skills in aerospace.

“As well as providing facilities for new business incubation, development and training, the centre will accelerate existing research into advanced manufacturing techniques. This will help to support businesses in the sector.”

Another advantage of a research and business incubation capability, he adds, is that it will provide a connection between Ayrshire and the wider Scottish research ecosystem. “It will allow partnerships to be forged with closely connected education institutes both at local and national level. These include Ayrshire College, the University of the West of Scotland, the University of Strathclyde and the University of Edinburgh.”   

As well as capital investment, the Ayrshire Growth Deal will also provide an opportunity to leverage skills and investment locally – something that will benefit not just the aerospace sector, but the whole wider community.

“In addition to developing skills in the local workforce, the boost to the aerospace cluster around Prestwick is expected to add some 4000 jobs to the area,” Mr O’Connor explains. 

“A further major goal of this investment is to inspire people to explore careers in STEM and the aerospace sector – the development of the aerospace centre will create a wide variety of possibilities for outreach and mentorship of learners, from primary school through to higher education.”

The visitor facility and STEM hub at the Aerospace and Space Innovation Centre in particular will provide opportunities for school and college students to understand and explore career options in these sectors. 

Mr O’Connor explains: “Many of our future workforce are currently of school age, therefore it is crucial they consider a career in space as something attainable. We will require highly specialised engineers and scientists however, we also need many other types of skills therefore it is vital we promote the study of not just the academic subjects but also the 
practical creative subjects as creativity and innovation are key to unlocking the potential of Scotland’s space industry.

“We will also offer a dynamic innovation and training facility for educators and the local workforce. And the visitor centre will provide a unique tourist attraction for Ayrshire, drawing on the widespread fascination with flight, space exploration and technology.”

There will, he says, be other local benefits too. “The plans for commercial development also include improvements to the region’s transport infrastructure – something that will bring benefits for local residents.”
Growth is also taking place within aerospace outside the Ayrshire Growth Deal, with two projects having obtained investment from the Scottish Government’s Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund (AMCF). 

These ventures – the Aerospace Digital Visualisation Suite and Supply Chain AeroSpace – have both been established following a successful collective bid by South Ayrshire Council, Ayrshire College, the University of Strathclyde and the Ayrshire Engineering Alliance which secured £2 million in investment.
Mick O’Connor is an enthusiast for these projects and for the Ayrshire Growth Deal, about which he says: “It will help secure Prestwick’s reputation not just as a centre for aerospace excellence – it will also bolster its ability to support the growing global space sector.

“Through new and established businesses along with the creation of highly skilled jobs, educational outreach programmes and supply chain opportunities provided by a growing hub, Ayrshire really is poised to support the UK’s 
aerospace and space activity beyond launch.”

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SSLC champions a  sustainable approach to space exploration

A RECENT Scottish Space Leadership Council initiative to address environmental challenges for the UK space sector has successfully generated more than 30 submissions from across environmental groups, academia and the wider public.

The programme, which was announced in the Herald’s Space Series last month, is supported by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government and will see three challenges selected by an independent judging panel that includes representatives from the European Space Agency, Friends of the Earth, NatureScot and the University of Texas. 

From there, the SSLC will organise a series of work streams that bring the sector together to explore solutions collaboratively, before presenting those back to challenge setters at an online Summit in June.

 The issue of ‘space junk’ is just one of the reasons SSLC favours green practices in the sector

“It’s great to see this initiative moving forward at pace and the international interest in what we’re doing has been encouraging and exciting.” stated organiser Kristina Tamane, a Space Business Development Executive at the University of Edinburgh and member of the SSLC’s Space Sustainability Task Force. 

Co-organiser and space entrepreneur Daniel Smith added, “Space data delivers so many benefits to the environment, so it’s great to see the sector’s value chain developing greener practices and sharing knowledge as the enabler of those benefits, and playing its role in the drive towards Net Zero, positioning the UK as the place for sustainable space.” 

The SSLC are set to announce three winning challenges in the coming days after the judging panel finalises their selections. 

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Leading space magazine has close links to Scotland’s thriving sector

JUST when you think you’ve seen it all before, you can rely on modern space technology and achievements exploration to push our sense of wonder to new heights. 

Nowhere was this more evident recently than with the recent arrival at Mars of three state-of-the-art spacecraft – from China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States.

Arriving at the red planet for the first time was no mean feat China’s Tianwen-1 and the UAE’s Hope spacecraft.

But even die hard space enthusiasts were not prepared for what followed with NASA’s Perseverance rover and its breathtaking descent to the Martian surface.
The astonishing event was even recorded live from Mars and beamed back countless times on television and social media around the world.

ROOM sponsors the Edinburgh Women in Space Conference 2021

This was space at its most spectacular and inspirational for upcoming generations and it seems that everyone is now watching and waiting with bated breath as each missions unfolds.

And when it comes to space exploration, global space magazine ROOM Space Journal of Asgardia is one of the world’s most respected publications.

Its new Spring issue reflects the exciting and dynamic nature of everything that is happening in space at the moment, with 20 fascinating articles from leading global experts.

As well as a quarterly print and digital magazine, ROOM also has a dynamic website at www.room.eu.com which also features all the latest space and business news.

ROOM Space Journal, based in Vienna, Austria, works closely with Edinburgh-headquartered strategic space marketing business AstroAgency. 

It is also sponsoring the Edinburgh Women in Space Conference 2021 this weekend, which is set to showcase a network of inspirational female leaders from the space sector. Editor-in-Chief Clive Simpson said: “Though we are a magazine for the global space sector and anyone interested in space, we are delighted to be closely linked to the dynamic and growing Scottish space industry.”

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Astronaut Drops into the SpaceBar

An international space sector networking event known as the “SpaceBar” celebrated its first anniversary in style this week as the online community was joined by British European Space Agency Astronaut Major Tim Peake CMG.

The event was initiated at the beginning of the pandemic by Edinburgh-headquartered international space marketing and intelligence firm to provide an informal platform for the developing space sector to meet during lockdown.

With over 30 sessions to date, the SpaceBar has led to businesses establishing partnerships, graduates finding work placements and start-ups pitching to US and European space sector investors. Founders AstroAgency say the event will continue until ‘in-person’ exhibitions return.

The anniversary session was hosted by broadcaster Dallas Campbell and planetary scientist Dr. Suzie Imber, and included an astronaut training panel with space medicine expert Dr. Kevin Fong OBE and an update on the UK’s plans for space launch from UK Space Agency Deputy CEO Ian Annett.

For more information on SpaceBar or to attend the free fortnightly event, visit AstroAgency’s social media channels @theastroagency

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DID YOU KNOW?

Data from small satellites can be used in the fight against  global warming by monitoring deforestation, identifying illegal mining, tracking illegal fishing and even track endangered species.

Edinburgh based Global Surface Intelligence is just one of many Scottish geospatial companies earth observation data for critical insight across global projects. Last year alone, GSI used satellite data and machine learning to survey over 90 million acres of trees for identifying carbon offset opportunities! That’s a lot of trees…

#SpaceForGood