Electronics Weekly Electronics Design & Components Tech News
The spaceport, which is located near Glasgow and is planning to start satellite launches in 2023, is being developed alongside Scotland’s largest aerospace cluster. It has secured multi-million-pound funding through an Ayrshire Growth Deal.
The educational outreach campaign – dubbed ‘A New Hope’ and running throughout 2022 – is intended to showcase the growing space activity at Prestwick, as well as a multitude of supply chain opportunities beyond launches themselves.
Key messages will focus on encouraging young people to “reach for the stars” and include information on the range of employment opportunities within the space sector. These include both technical and non-technical jobs, meaning logistics personnel, creative designers, architects, lawyers and marketing professionals will be as ‘in demand’ as the scientists and engineers.
The campaign includes a video for schools featuring local heroes from Ayrshire and across Scotland, while a competition to design a ‘Mission Patch’ to mark the inaugural launch of small satellites from Prestwick will be focused on primary schools.
The organisers seeks to break down perceived barriers to accessing space careers and inspire younger people to enter the industry. They believe as many as 4,000 jobs could be created through the space sector.
“We want to inspire young people to follow their dreams, whatever they may be,” said Mick O’Connor, Programme Director of Prestwick Spaceport. “We have asked local heroes who have achieved success in different fields to help us by telling their own story explaining how they achieved their goals to help young people realise that with the right desire, belief and commitment they can achieve their own dreams.”
“Many of us on the spaceport team never imagined working in space, so we are passionate about making the youth of Ayrshire aware of the possibilities. At the same time, we want to highlight other routes to a career in space, particularly around using space technology to combat climate change, prevent illegal fishing, predict the spread of forest fires or monitor soil moisture levels to stop landslides, to name a few.”
The Prestwick area is home to aerospace industry players such as BAE Systems, GE Caledonian, Spirit AeroSystems, Woodward and Collins Aerospace.
Pictured above is the C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft, which will operate from the Spaceport to carry and launch the Astraius rocket, to provide the ‘air-launch’ platform for satellites.
See also: Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport signs Astraius for horizontal launches
