My research is concerned with Scottish spaceports and the Scottish space sector. It’s ultimately interdisciplinary research that covers social sciences and engineering, politics and history, and whatever else is needed to adequately tell this story.
To me, Open Engineering is ultimately a tool for managing collaboration and encouraging innovation. Open Engineering research pays attention to the “when” and the “where” this collaboration occurs. These might be physical locations like laboratories or conferences, it may be online, or it might be an informal network of individuals working together. For my specific work in the space sector, I see spaceports as a great example of an Open Engineering intermediary.
Space is intangible for most of us. A select few go, it’s infinitely large, and is currently viewed as a playground for the wealthy. I see the advent of spaceports in Scotland as a really good tool to encourage collaboration and innovation; spaceports are a place to visit, and are the intersection between the terrestrial and outer space. Building off the work of colleagues, it’s safe to say that Scotland’s space sector is a more equitable landscape than other countries. For example, it’s predominately made up of small-to-medium sized enterprises that all work really well together. They take a strength in numbers approach to challenges that a bigger or more established sector might be able to take on. The proof is there: Glasgow is one of the largest satellite manufacturing cities in the world, Edinburgh loves its downstream space data, there are Scottish rockets being built, and there is a spaceport that is ready to launch in the Shetland Islands.
To me, spaceports feel like a natural conduit for collaboration in the space sector. I think they’re the “missing link” in making Scotland one of the most exciting places to be if you have any interest in space. A spaceport is the intersection where a ton of actors converge for one goal: sending a rocket into space to deliver its payload without blowing anything up. Putting my sheer excitement about this topic aside, my research is trying to gather internal and external perspectives on what spaceports really do, what role they take on in their local communities and the wider space sector, and see how they drive Scotland forward into the New Space Era.
