Scotland's First Satellite Prepares To Go Into Orbit

Scotland’s first satellite looks set to make its historic journey into outerspace.

First Minister Alex Salmond has been visiting the Glasgow-based team behind the mission, who have announced plans to open a base in the United States.

Clyde Space, which designed and built the UKube-1 nanosatellite, is running final tests at the company’s headquarters in the West of Scotland Science Park.

The satellite will be deployed next month to Kazakhstan, where it will be launched in a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket later this year.

Mr Salmond said: "From James Clerk Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory that paved the way for deep-space telescopes, to Professor Higgs work at the University of Edinburgh into the building blocks of all matter, Scottish science has helped humankind better understand our universe. By pioneering a cost-effective way of supporting more space research, the Clyde Space team is building on a strong heritage of engineering, ingenuity and innovation."

The UKube-1 is a UK Space Agency mission which includes experiments to use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to measure space weather and to test how cosmic radiation could improve the security of communications satellites.

Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark said: "The size of spacecraft that Clyde Space mostly work with weigh less than 5 kilograms and are about the size of a small desktop computer. Through our innovation and understanding of this market, Clyde Space has positioned itself as a world leader in the supply of subsystems, especially to organisations in the USA such as NASA, the US Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)."

Hugh Stewart OBE, Clyde Space chairman, added: "Clyde Space is a fantastic Scottish example of how a small company can compete globally in leading-edge manufacturing. Its strategy is for continued growth and we hope to open in the USA in the next year."

Today’s visit is part of the First Minister’s week of showcasing Scottish scientific excellence, including the launch of a Higgs Prize for school physics students and the expansion of life sciences research facilities in Edinburgh.

(IT/GK)