Space strategy firm takes on new deals despite impact of Ukrainian conflict on business.
An international space firm with a strong presence in Scotland and Ukraine is flying high after landing a host of new contract awards in the first quarter of 2022.
Some of the biggest names in the global space sector have secured the services of AstroAgency, including the European Space Agency’s network of UK Business Incubation Centres.
Space debris removal company, Astroscale, has also joined the roster alongside the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space, which carries out scientific research, technology development and operates facilities for the UK space sector.
The latest spree of space contracts comes with a number of its team members based in Ukraine, leading the firm to release a statement at the onset of the Russian invasion from AstroAgency’s Ukrainian staff, explaining its determination to continue supporting its clients and the growth of the international commercial space sector.
Space sector entrepreneur and AstroAgency founder, Daniel Smith, said: “It’s been a rollercoaster start to the year, between the team’s efforts made to deliver on current projects despite the impact on some of our team members due to the invasion of Ukraine, together with a number of long-term target clients being secured.
“The growth of the company to reach our 40th client milestone has been a huge positive for us at a difficult time and we’re all delighted to have the chance to work with so many key space organisations from across the globe, in both the private and public sectors.
“We’re fully focused on helping them reach their potential and realise their goals.”
Additions to AstroAgency’s public sector arsenal include strategic market research projects for the UK Space Agency and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, the latter being the development of a space strategy for the regions of Norfolk and Suffolk following on from the firm’s work on Scotland’s space strategy last year.
In the private sector, the agency has onboarded Earth Blox, a company that empowers non-experts with information from satellite observations, allowing any organisation to translate raw satellite data into actionable insights without needing to write a single line of code.
Other projects include promotional marketing for Spelfie, an app which uses satellite imagery to produce space “selfies”, and working with Glasgow-based, Trade in Space, which combines space and blockchain technology to process data and enable transactions of global agricultural assets.
Andrea Stewart, Head of Marketing and Communications at Astroscale, said: “We’ve been working on a number of voluntary initiatives together over the last 18 months and we’re delighted to have found a project to work on together as a client at the start of 2022.
“The AstroAgency team are passionate and insightful, we hope to find more opportunities to collaborate together in the future.”
The contract awards follow on from a recently secured project with the UK Space Agency to support start-up space businesses on the ‘Leo’ Accelerator programme, and AstroAgency’s partnership with the University of Edinburgh to guide students and young entrepreneurs considering launching space sector businesses or working in the industry.
The Edinburgh headquartered company has also spearheaded the development of a roadmap for a more sustainable space ecosystem for the Scottish Government, alongside partners Optimat and Space Scotland’s Environmental Task Force.
AstroAgency Chief Operating Officer Daria Filichkina, said: “We’ve only just passed two years as a company and its exciting to see us add strategic space projects for governments to the growing list of private space companies that we work with around the world.
“We’re in a fortunate position, writing strategies and helping to build awareness in how access to space can be leveraged to support the economy, society, the fight against climate change or space debris. Ultimately, we hope that by sharing success stories we will help draw more businesses into this fast growing industry.”
In addition, AstroAgency is playing a key role in supporting international space delegation visits to the UK, including a partnership with the Swiss Business Hub (Switzerland Global Enterprise), part of the Embassy of Switzerland in London, to organise a space networking event with the University of Edinburgh. The project mirrors their work last year to deliver a Scottish Space Day in Dubai alongside Scottish Development International.
AstroAgency offers businesses and organisations a unique combination of strategic marketing support, brand building techniques, space media coverage, detailed technical knowledge and all-important market intelligence.
The company, which works across the space value chain from satellite manufacture and launch to downstream data analysis, has a presence in London, Milan, Amsterdam and Toulouse. The firm’s 25-strong team are all remote based, although the company plans to open its first office outside of Europe by the end of 2022.
In 2021, international governments invested an estimated $92 billion in the space sector according to Euroconsult, another of AstroAgency’s flagship clients, up by 8% from $84.5 billion the previous year, while the EU collectively invested $2.6 billion in the same period.
Smith added: “The interest and investment into enabling access to space will continue to soar and both businesses and entrepreneurs entering the sector now, whether technical or non-technical members of the space supply chain, will be in an excellent position to benefit from the huge opportunities which lie ahead.”
