Did you know that the UK space industry is roughly the same size as the UK music and video games industries? And that beyond direct revenue, nearly £1 in every £5 of UK GDP is supported or enabled by satellite services? Or that, because the UK public sector budget is 0.2% of GDP compared with 0.8% for the EU, our market is more commercially driven and innovative?

So how to get to the next level? Should the UK Government pivot its role from grant provider to “anchor customer”? Should the UK build more strategic, resilient partnerships, for example with the Nordic and Baltic nations, with Germany, Japan and Southeast Asia? Will the SpaceX IPO crowd new capital into competing launch vehicles that, if regulation can be stripped back, will “grease the wheels” for facilities like SaxaVord to succeed?

And why, in five years or less, will regular landings on the moon become normalised and “boring”?

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Doug Liddle, Chair of UKSpace

Doug Liddle | LinkedIn

Greg Sadlier, Co-founder and director of know.space

Greg Sadlier | LinkedIn

know.space | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• SpaceX IPO
• UK space industry
• Sovereign characteristics
• Geopolitical partnerships
• Five-year outlook
• Domain awareness
• Orbital inspections and defence
• Asteroid mining
• SaxaVord

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are orbital data centres (ODCs) and how do they differ from orbital edge computing? How do they solve the bottleneck of transmitting massive volumes of data from space to Earth? How believable is the central premise of the SpaceX IPO, that because space offers unlimited real estate, solar energy and natural radiative cooling it is therefore the future of Earth’s AI computing needs? Why are some experts sceptical and is there a danger that while AI demand is real, the infrastructure market could be a bubble waiting to happen? And why is developing sovereign ODC capabilities so “critical”?

Join Alice and Jason Aspiotis, CEO and co-founder for a European space startup, as they talk about the “net present value” and future potential of ODCs, the lack of a “conviction to pursue something big” in Europe, and the terrifying or intriguing prospect of neuromorphic computing chips that mimic the low-power, high efficiency processing of the human brain.

For more explanation, insight and expert opinions about the big issues shaping the future of space in the UK and beyond, register now for The Karman Line. https://www.thekarmanline.co.uk/

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jason Aspiotis, CEO and co-founder for a European space startup

Jason Aspiotis | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• Orbital edge computing
• Orbital data centres (ODCs)
• Data bottlenecks
• ODCs as infrastructure
• UK and European sovereign capability
• ISAM (in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing)
• Neuromorphic computing

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lord Heseltine tells the story of the birth of the European Space Agency. Why post-Apollo, when the US was spending £1.2 billion a year on space, the whole of Europe was spending just £200 million. Why the birth of ESA was driven by the self-interest of three major countries. Why the US general with a $29 billion budget for the Star Wars project wanted to invest in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Why, the idea that Britain could compete alone with the technologies that were accumulated and available to the American capitalist system was “simply laughable”. Why “being European is not selling out British interests”. And why Margaret Thatcher told him: “If you want to get on and put your budget into this, you can, but you're not getting any of mine."

Join Alice and Lord Heseltine as they pick apart the negotiating contrivances and the wheeling and dealing to circumnavigate “turkeys not voting for Christmas” that ultimately put European space on the map.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Lord Heseltine, Member of the House of Lords

Key topics covered:

• Creation of the European Space Agency (ESA)
• US "Star Wars" program and brain drain
• Geopolitical case for European R&D collaboration
• Impact of Brexit on science and technology

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.