Hansard

That is an important part of the debate. There are two ways to look at that. First, Scotland would not have a burgeoning space industry without inward investment, which comes from a variety of routes, including venture capital and takeovers. Likewise, we want to grow Scottish companies, particularly those that spin out of our fantastic universities. We hope that those will grow to become substantial Scottish companies. We have to get that balance right, so the member is right to highlight the issue.

The end-to-end capability that I referred to will be so important in providing Scotland with advantages. It will support our ambition to become a leading European space nation, capture a £4 billion share of the global market and support up to 20,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

Launch is the final gap in the process, which will soon be closed. Our vertical spaceports in the Shetland Islands and in Sutherland are due to commence operations shortly. Those will be followed by suborbital activity in the Western Isles and horizontal launches from Prestwick, supported through the islands and Ayrshire growth deals, which made significant investments in those areas.

Our spaceports are attracting international customers from Europe and the US, but we also have domestic companies that are developing their own launch vehicles. Skyrora plans to launch its XL vehicle from SaxaVord, which will also play host to the UK Pathfinder Launch programme from Lockheed Martin.? Orbex, from my Moray constituency, will launch its Prime vehicle from Sutherland, having completed its latest funding round for £40.4 million, led by £17.8 million of investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank. It is now ramping up recruitment towards its first launch, with about 100 people now employed across its three buildings. I attended the Orbex vehicle unveiling last year. It was an absolutely awesome spectacle, and I look forward to visiting the team again in the coming days.

However, it is not just the economic prize that makes space such a key opportunity sector; its role in the global fight against climate change is equally as important as its economic contribution. Data and imagery from satellites are critical to monitoring changes in our planet. That is another area in which Scotland is genuinely world leading. The industry is sensitive to the global conversation about climate change and its own role within it—both as a force for good via climate monitoring and in mitigating its own environmental impact through manufacturing processes, launch and end of life.?

?Sustainability is at the heart of the Scottish space sector, and it forms a key part of the Scottish Government’s strategy. Last year, we launched the world’s first sustainable space road map to encourage responsible growth and set us on the path to becoming the greenest space sector in the world. The world has taken notice, and it wants to learn from Scotland about embedding sustainability in the industry.

The whole Scottish space community is already taking action to reduce its carbon footprint and support the transition to net zero. Our launch manufacturers are using lightweight materials, innovative designs, and fuels to develop green launch vehicles. We launched an innovation challenge fund to help Scottish businesses to develop innovative space-based solutions that can support the net zero transition.

We can also develop solutions to the problems of other nations, and we have already built strong international interest, including by organising a dedicated mission to Switzerland to promote the Scottish sector. Space is, by its nature, a global sector, which means that it presents significant opportunities but also strong competition. International positioning and marketing will be essential to maintaining existing progress and supporting further growth.

Mangata Networks and Spire before it chose Scotland as a base for their satellite manufacturing and operations. That is clear evidence that our approach is working. Our ability to understand, support and effectively engage in the international arena is further boosted by the formation of the Scotland International Space Advisory Committee. The committee, which is a voluntary group, is co-chaired by GlobalScot’s Joanna Peters and Dr David Alexander, and it brings a wealth of expertise and connections across the globe that we can use to tell the world about our sector.

As we have heard, like many other sectors across the economy, our space sector is facing skills challenges. However, it is important to recognise the value of the jobs that we have. Space is high value, with gross value added per employee estimated at £144,000, which is 2.5 times the United Kingdom’s average labour productivity. It has the power to inspire and excite like few other sectors, and it is an attractive destination for international workers with the right skill sets. We must utilise that to build a strong pipeline of talent and form an inclusive sector that is accessible for everyone. The sector takes such issues very seriously.

Scotland has a thriving space ecosystem that already employs more than 8,500 people. The recent publication on the UK space industry reaffirms that Scotland is “punching above its weight” on performance, with almost one fifth of all UK space sector jobs being based here. It also recognises strong growth in our company base and annual income. The sector has seen impressive growth of 12 per cent year on year, and we expect that to continue.

All that has been achieved, and all that we hope to achieve in the future, is possible only through strong partnership between industry, academia and the Government. That is why we have Space Scotland and the Scottish space academic forum. An important part of our strategy involves industry, academia and the Government working in partnership to achieve our collective ambition for Scotland to become a leading European space nation through the provision of the full end-to-end value chain for small satellites.

As I draw my speech to a close—I see that I am slightly over my time due to the interventions that I took—I highlight that the combination of the full end-to-end provision for small satellites, with sustainability at its core, and the strong partnership between industry, academia and the Government will put the Scottish space sector in a genuinely world-leading position.

As I said, Scotland was famously at the heart of the first industrial revolution, and now, in this pivotal decade, we are again shaping the future. The future for space, as one of Scotland’s transformative and cutting-edge sectors, is really exciting. We have left the launch pad, and we are heading for the stars and new frontiers. I commend the sector for all that it is achieving, and I commend the motion to Parliament.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the continued growth of the Scottish space sector; recognises that the sector accounts for 18% of all jobs in the UK space industry; notes that the sector has been identified as a key economic opportunity through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation and that, in October 2021, industry, academia and government set out their collective ambition for Scotland to become a leading European space nation through the Scottish Space Strategy; welcomes the major investment by Mangata Networks in building its new hub in Scotland, which will support up to 575 highly-skilled jobs; recognises the strengths of the space sector in Scotland and the role of space data in tackling climate change; acknowledges the importance of strict environmental and safety regulations to this industry, given its wider impact, and understands the significant opportunities for Scotland in becoming the home of space launches in Europe through the development of spaceports for civilian, science and technology programmes.