Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Space
  • /
  • Scottish Space sector charts path to a sustainable future

Space

Scottish Space sector charts path to a sustainable future

A specialist working group of the industry-led Space Scotland is contributing to the development of a sustainable space sector by collaborating on a roadmap that will focus on environmental issues in one of Scotland’s fastest-growing industries.

Above: Space debris.
AstroAgency

 
On behalf of the Space Scotland’s Environmental Task Force, AstroAgency and Optimat will work with Scottish companies, international collaborators and the public sector to develop this latest step in the country’s journey towards a future formalised sustainable space strategy and has the full backing of the Scottish Government.
 
The sustainability roadmap for space – a world first – will involve wide-ranging research, consultations with world-leading space sustainability experts and case studies from other sectors for the space industry to learn from. It will highlight priority actions required by industry, academia and government to support wider net zero ambitions and cover a variety of economic, legal and environmental issues to evaluate how access to space can be used to meet current and future global challenges.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT

It aims to ensure Scotland’s developing spaceports and launch vehicles minimise their impact on the environment, as well as promoting the environmental and societal benefits that can come from UK-launched small satellites. In addition, the roadmap will highlight the need for low-Earth orbit to be safeguarded alongside the planet’s marine and land environments, while also exploring peripheral space activities that may cause an indirect impact on carbon emissions. Once drafted, the roadmap will be shared with industry-led group Space Scotland and wider sectoral stakeholders for endorsement and approval, before being published later this year.
 
“From greener rocket propellants to using satellites to help restore local peatlands and track typhoons, Scottish space companies and Universities are making great strides towards enabling a more sustainable future. This roadmap is an opportunity to unite these activities and identify where we can collaborate more effectively” elaborated Kristina Tamane, Co-Chair of Space Scotland’s Environmental Task Force and Space Sector Lead at University of Edinburgh.
 
The space sector remains one of Scotland’s best kept secrets. In a short time, Scotland has developed world-class capability in small satellite manufacturing, with a cluster of companies in Glasgow producing more small satellites than any other city in Europe. Edinburgh, on the other hand, hosts the largest centre for informatics in Europe and is home to more than 170 data science companies.

Along Scotland’s rugged edges and in airports such as Prestwick and Macrihanish, spaceports are making great progress toward launching both Scottish-made and international small satellites, many designed with environmental goals in mind. The applications of satellite data range from monitoring deforestation and illegal mining to helping predict natural disasters such as landslides or the spread of forest fires, with Scottish companies such as Earth Blox, Astrosat, GSI, Omanos Analytics, Ecometrica, Spire Global and Space Intelligence leading the way.
 
The rapid growth of the Scottish space activities comes with a concomitant requirement to minimise the environmental impact of space activities. The Scottish Space Strategy published on the international stage at Expo Dubai in October last year identified sustainability as a key theme of Scotland’s approach to space.
 
"As we build on the sector's strengths we must also focus on sustainability,” stated First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the Sustainable Space Summit organised by industry-led group Space Scotland last year. “Space technologies will have an increasingly important role in the fight against climate change, but the sector must continue to reduce its own environmental impact."
 
The roadmap is set to promote a comprehensive approach to space sustainability that consists of more than reducing emissions, extending to the activities of satellites in orbit. It will therefore contain information on space 'junk' and debris mitigation and highlight the effect that satellites have on astronomical observations, with a view to acting as a catalyst for meaningful international action in such areas.
 
AstroAgency’s Founder Daniel Smith stated: “We want to leave no stone unturned. This is an important opportunity for Scotland to lead by example in developing the space sector of tomorrow, both on the ground and in orbit.”

On a recent visit to Shetland, UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart travelled up to Unst, where he met with representatives from the SaxaVord spaceport. The UK’s first vertical satellite launch, supported by £13.5 million UK Government funding, is anticipated to take place from the site later this year.
 

 

 

Advertisement
DSEI 2025

 

 

 

UK Moonlight team expands

Space Events

UK Moonlight team expands

18 July 2025

Viasat, SSTL and MDA Space have announced they are working together to develop designs and proposals for a lunar orbiting communications satellite system around the Moon, called Moonlight.

MDA Space UK to prime ESA and UKSA regenerative 5G D2D comms from LEO

Space

MDA Space UK to prime ESA and UKSA regenerative 5G D2D comms from LEO

16 July 2025

MDA Space Ltd today announced that it will prime SkyPhi, a new mission funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) that will enable regenerative 5G direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

University of Surrey launches Space Institute

Space

University of Surrey launches Space Institute

16 July 2025

With the UK's £19 billion space economy surging, government and industry urgently need faster research, innovation and skilled talent – yet more than half of space organisations report critical shortages, a challenge now being tackled by the newly launched Surrey Space Institute at the University of Surrey.

Pioneering programme to develop horizontal space launch

Space

Pioneering programme to develop horizontal space launch

15 July 2025

Ahead of the UK Space Conference (Manchester, 16th-17th July 2025), Frazer-Nash has announced it is leading a new research programme, known as INVICTUS, to develop a comprehensive concept design for a vehicle and its integrated systems, with the goal of building and flying a Mach 5-capable aircraft at the edge of space by early 2031.

Advertisement
ODU RT
Celestia UK starts building world’s first Ka-band multi-beam gateway

Space Events

Celestia UK starts building world’s first Ka-band multi-beam gateway

15 July 2025

Celestia UK is announcing at the UK Space Conference 2025 (Manchester, 16th-17th July 2025) that it has commenced the preproduction stage of a new generation of ground station gateway.

Bright Ascension launches strategic plan with new leadership team

Space

Bright Ascension launches strategic plan with new leadership team

14 July 2025

Bright Ascension Ltd has announced the appointment of a new CEO and the launch of its five-year strategic plan.

Advertisement
Teledyne