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

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The idea of 14,000 satellites in low earth orbit sounds pretty scary but in context there’s over a million cars on the road in the UK alone and low earth orbit is a really big 3D space. So, should people be worried about space sustainability? Shouldn’t they just relax and remember there’s loads and loads of space out there?

Or should they still be scared? What happens when satellites do cross paths? If they’re all part of the SpaceX Starlink constellation they’ll talk to each other instantaneously and get out of the way. But what if the contact is with a satellite from another country? Is it fair to say they’re on the equivalent of email or telephone? And what if they do collide? Will it be like the experiment in 2007 when the Chinese fired a missile at a defunct weather satellite? On the one hand, “great shot lads, you’ve hit something moving at 4km per second” but on the other, “you’ve probably caused a millennia worth of debris problems”.

If it’s within our capabilities to move bikes and cars and trains and planes around the world in an ordered fashion, shouldn’t it be well within human capabilities to extend the use of space? Is there a role for the UK in being “the AA” of space and is the UK-New Zealand debris removal agreement a useful step down this road?

Join Alice and Jonners as they talk to Phil Buckley, partner at the Public Service Consultants and a specialist in space sustainability, about the perils and pitfalls of satellite traffic jams and an opportunity that the UK “could be absolutely brilliant at”.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jonathan Daves, The Karman Line

Jonathan Daves | LinkedIn

Phil Buckley, Partner at the PSC

Phil Buckley | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• Space sustainability
• The Kessler effect
• Space debris
• Starlink
• UK-New Zealand agreement
• Space traffic
• The Fengyun weather satellite
• Refuelling
• Servicing

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Why do people in the space sector think they have a comms problem and yet the public at large think space is sexy? Should we stop evangelising about the technology that gets stuff into space rather than the core marketing message? After all, KFC is about the chicken not the trucks that deliver it.

What are the leadership opportunities in the UK from launch in Scotland and what is the “environmental conscience” behind that endeavour? And how did we end up with kids in St Austell working on global lunar space missions on the back of a famous “failure”?

Join Alice, Jess Ratty from Halo Global and John Harrington UK editor of PR Week, as they confront the introspection of space and figure out better ways of confounding British understatement and amazing a world of would-be investors.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jess Ratty, Founder and Leader, Halo Global

Jess Ratty | LinkedIn

John Harrington, UK Editor, PR Week

John Harrington | LinkedIn

PR Week UK

Key topics covered:

• Communications
• Marketing
• Leadership opportunities
• Saxa Vord launch
• Environment
• Spaceport Cornwall
• Virgin Orbit’s “Start me Up” mission

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