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Zoe Ashford is a PhD student at Cranfield University, specialising in propulsion for hypersonic flight, having recently completed her Master’s degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield.  Why did she find the Plastron training useful? “A lot of us on the Master’s course were very hands on with rocketry...

There is lots happening in the UK Space Industry and for once we are (collectively) in the news a lot – not always positively, mind. And at Plastron, we are seeing a clear ramping up of activity. Recently we were present at the UKSA Ignite conference in the Skills Zone...

Amina Zien is a master’s student at Kingston University, specialising in Aerospace Engineering with Astronautics and Space Technology. She has recently been offered a graduate scheme working for Ura Thrusters, a propulsion company in Westcott Venture Park. We asked her about the Space industry Centre for Excellence course in propulsion...

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...

Plastron took to the lights of NEC last week as a first step to bringing our ESA BIC project to wider audiences. In collaboration with co-BIC peers, GravitiLab Aerospace and key partners, European Astrotech and Argenta, Plastron set up a stand, courtesy of the Advanced Engineering team, to promote the...

During 2021 and early 2022, Plastron benefitted from the UK Space Agency SPIN programme, securing the involvement of a university student to investigate the environmental Cradle-to-Grave impact of launcher propellants. As the research progressed, significant papers were published by ESA, NASA and leading universities investigating the impact of propellants on...

During this summer, students from 10 UK universities participated in an interactive learning programme on propulsion test skills. Delivered remotely by Chris Smith and Charlie Young, under the auspices of the Plastron Space Industry Centre for Excellence, (a collaboration between Plastron and European Astrotech), the modular course taught sequentially how...

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship recently published a briefing paper on Space Sector Start-ups and Scale-ups. Authored by Philip Salter and Katherine Courtney, the report assesses the landscape for the space sector, the current pitfalls and challenges facing Space NewCo’s and a raft of recommendations and suggestions on...

In July, Plastron had the pleasure to have the opportunity to present research of their advanced air control system at COSPAR 2022 in Athens. A collaborative research study with Southampton University was able to show how the 300 cubic metre Plastron UK satellite facility air cleanliness system can achieve ISO8...

What is the real environmental impact of launcher propellants? With the space industry undergoing transformative growth globally, the number of rocket launches per year has been steadily increasing1 — a trajectory likely to increase over coming decades. Despite the hazardous implications of spaceflight, earth-to-orbit traffic has been too insignificant to command much support...

UK Launch commences in 2022; enhancing the industry’s knowledge of safety will ensure success.  To ensure the UK Launch sector gets off to a safe, as well as economically viable, flying start later this year, an intensive course on space centre and launch campaign operations was recently organised by the...

During 2021, Plastron worked with air modelling experts at Southampton University to develop an advanced air management system for our spacecraft processing environments. The Plastron facility was designed in line with the needs and mindset of the NewSpace sector, with the entire design relying on commercial OTS technology. This means...