Hansard

Well, I had to say it: I am boldly going where Christine has not gone before. What do I know about space and satellites beyond “Star Trek”? Actually, I may surprise you and even myself.

It all started when Derek Harris got in touch with me, as he lived in Penicuik, in my constituency. He introduced me to Skyrora, which has been mentioned before, and Black Arrow. Black Arrow was the UK’s only rocket to successfully launch a satellite into orbit, but it had lain at its crash-landing site in the South Australian outback for 48 years prior to Skyrora stepping in to preserve it and return it to Scotland. I sponsored its coming to Parliament—outside, of course. It represents an important piece of heritage in the space sector, which continues to thrive today in Scotland, and serves as inspiration to the next generation of space scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.

Since being established in 2017, Skyrora has invested approximately £50 million in developing technology and infrastructure and in creating a skilled workforce, which is now 70 people based in a manufacturing and assembly facility in Cumbernauld. Outside investment over that time includes a grant from the UK Space Agency for £2.5 million, which is currently being extended in delivery time period and in scope; a recently confirmed horizon 2020 grant of €500,000 over four years for advanced manufacturing 3D printing; and a national manufacturing programme supporting the licensing of Skyrora’s 3D printer, which I have seen.

According to Skyrora, there has been no further funding from any institutions including Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish National Investment Bank, despite extensive engagement. I leave that for the minister to consider.

I am advised by the company that the key challenges are as follows. Not unexpectedly, one is funding. Another is a UK regulatory regime that is not competitive, even unfit for purpose. That issue has been referred to by other contributors and I will return to it. Also, there is a lack of a clear co-ordinated approach by all levels of Government, starting from understanding why launch is required, and of a road map or plan with clearly articulated steps to make launch happen.

There was strong initial engagement across the space industry, academia and Government. However, more recently, that co-ordination and collective drive has somewhat fallen back to individual companies’ “private aspirations”, as opposed to continuing to garner support and push collaboration.

I go back to licensing. In spring 2022, Skyrora submitted its application to the UK Civil Aviation Authority for its launch licence, after extensive engagement that included a 23-month process from February 2019 to help establish the safety case process approach to evaluation. It is now April 2023, and Skyrora is still waiting for qualitative feedback from the CAA on its submission and, indeed, for any indication of when it might receive a launch licence.

In the meantime, to pursue its requirement for undertaking launch, Skyrora has assisted the Icelandic authorities to establish a permit process over the course of 2021-22 and, in October 2022, Skyrora launched the suborbital test vehicle Skylark-L in Iceland.

In the context of Scotland, Skyrora sought to suggest that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency might be able to take a lead on managing and enabling the regulatory process of procuring a licence, in a similar way that SEPA took the lead on decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure.

For the future, Skyrora’s ambition is to realise income to the Scottish economy of more than £2.1 billion by 2030: 428 full-time equivalent manufacturing jobs, with salaries that it hopes will be 26 per cent above Scottish average, which deals with the issues that Carol Mochan has raised; a research and development investment of more than £5 million every year—five times the Scottish average; and, by 2030, more than 300 internships, 30 apprenticeships and sponsored skills programmes in welding, 3D printing, advanced manufacturing and so on, taking use of Scotland’s national engine test centre in Gorebridge in my constituency.

I turn now to Thistle Rocketry, which is located in Tweedbank in my constituency. That early-stage business received a Scottish EDGE award of £100,000 to support it. It is a space launch start-up, which is currently developing scalable rocket systems for cube satellites. Its award is made up of a £30,000 grant and a £70,000 soft loan.

At the moment, Thistle Rocketry is at the climax of a six-month project. On only a £50,000 budget, it has designed and built an 8-kilonewton suborbital rocket engine—please do not intervene for a technical explanation—with the goal of advancing its proprietary propellant pump, and it is lighting the engine for the first test fire tomorrow, weather permitting. Testing will continue for another few days, with both the engine development and the advancement of its intellectual property representing major milestones for the company. With the completion of that test project, it will formally commence its seed raise, which is planned for this year.

It is the tale of two space satellite companies that I know quite well, one far more advanced than the other, which will both, I hope—and I will end where I started—be businesses that live long and prosper.