The UK space industry has been in the news lately. The Virgin Orbit launch in Cornwall last week was hailed a great step forward for the industry – the first such launch from a UK location.
Of course, it didn’t go quite to plan and the launch was not a complete success, but it also wasn’t the disaster you’d think from reading some of the media coverage. This is, after all, rocket science.
For a successful launch you need three things: a viable launch site, a vehicle to transport the payload, and of course your payload – or satellite. You can compare it, if you like, to a more down-to-earth journey on a Routemaster bus: you need a bus stop, a bus with a destination and a bus passenger. Using this example, the only thing that under-performed in Cornwall was the transport, the bus. The bus stop/spaceport performed exactly as it needed to, and the payloads onboard were also functional (well, to a point…).
There was a problem with the vehicle, however, and quite literally and figuratively, the wheels fell off the bus. Not ideal, but eminently fixable. And given the challenging climate conditions the team faced these past few weeks at the spaceport, not a huge surprise. Cornwall, after all, is not the Mojave desert.
At Plastron we are very proud to be part of a growing and successful UK space industry, and congratulate colleagues at Cornwall Spaceport and the CAA for the work they have done preparing for this first launch campaign from UK soil.
How are we part of this complex and burgeoning infrastructure? Our thing is safety.
With over 40 years of industry experience between us, at Plastron we are committed to making the growing New Space sector safer. Safer through design, safer through skills development and safer through best-in-class work environments.
So, we provide safety engineering training and advice to universities and industry, and are now developing specialist engineering facilities for hazardous operations for clients in the UK and overseas, starting in Shetland over the next few months.
Keep an eye on our website and get in touch if you want to learn more about this exciting new sector; call us if you want advice on where to find your nearest bus stop…