Glasgow has become a European leader in building small satellites, known as CubeSats, since Craig Clark founded Clyde Space in 2005. These satellites, each about the size of a Rubik's Cube, are modular and can be packed with various technology depending on their purpose. The Scottish space industry generated £335 million in income in 2022-23, up 69% from five years prior, and employs 2,811 people, an increase of 81%. However, the article questions whether this growth can be sustained with European governments investing heavily in their own satellite industries.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In 2005, a young space engineer called Craig Clark moved back to his home city of Glasgow.
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engineer → call → Glasgow
He'd graduated from university just over a decade before, but the only jobs he could find were south of the border.
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he → graduate → border
Now Craig wanted to start a company of his own.
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Craig → want → own
He called it Clyde Space.
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He → call → it
I went to school not far from the River Clyde, where the city's shipbuilding heritage was forged, and knew Glasgow had once been an industrial powerhouse.
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Glasgow → go → Clyde
When I was a child, "Clyde-built" really meant something: craftsmanship and engineering excellence.
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built → build → something
There was a saying that I grew up with: "The Clyde made Glasgow and Glasgow made the Clyde."
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Glasgow → be → Clyde
What I hadn't realised until recently was that, in a different guise, that tradition is still alive.
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tradition → realise → guise
Two decades later, Glasgow is a European leader in building small satellites.
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Glasgow → build → satellites
Many of those built here are known as CubeSats.
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Many → build → CubeSats
Their basic building block measures just 10cm by 10cm by 10cm - think of something about the size of a Rubik's Cube.
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block → measure → Cube
They are much smaller, cheaper and quicker to develop than the huge contraptions that you might picture when you think of satellites.
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you → develop → satellites
But crucially, they are modular and can be stacked together, then packed with cameras, sensors, communications equipment or other technology depending on their purpose.
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they → stack → purpose
And their size belies their significance.
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size → belie → significance
The data collected by satellites of all kinds is increasingly woven into everyday life.
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data → collect → life
It helps us communicate and navigate, track ships and transport goods, monitor forests and crops, manage energy networks and understand changes to our climate.
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us → help → climate
For governments, that information can help inform decisions and respond to emergencies.
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information → help → emergencies
As satellites have become more capable, space has become increasingly important.
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space → become → ?
More than two decades after the first satellite company was established there, the Scottish Government says more small satellites are built in Glasgow than anywhere else in Europe.
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satellites → establish → Europe
Across Scotland, the wider space industry generated £335m in income in 2022-23 - up 69% in five years.
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industry → generate → years
Excluding traditional satellite television broadcasting, it employed 2,811 people, an increase of 81% over the same period.
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it → exclude → period
But elsewhere in Europe, governments are committing big money to their own satellite industries.
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governments → commit → industries
Could this take investment and jobs away from Glasgow?
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this → take → Glasgow
And if so, what - if anything - should the Scottish and UK governments do about it?
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governments → do → it
And what should be the role of the state when it comes to backing important industries?
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it → come → industries
Glasgow's rise to small satellite superpower
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Glasgow's success in the space industry is that it wasn't planned.
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it → plan → industry
The company specialised in CubeSats at just the right moment, a few years after it launched, as smaller and cheaper spacecraft were taking off, and would go on to build Scotland's first satellite, the UKube-1.
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spacecraft → specialise → satellite
Crucially, the tech was built in partnership with the University of Strathclyde - which provided skills and research, as well as a ready supply of engineers.
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which → build → engineers
Other companies followed, including Craft Prospect and Alba Orbital.
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companies → follow → Prospect
Expertise grew and a new space cluster began to form.
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cluster → grow → ?
American satellite company Spire chose Glasgow for its European base in 2015.
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Spire → choose → 2015
Smaller businesses developed, while established engineering and technology firms became part of the supply chain.
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firms → develop → chain
"Companies started moving to Glasgow because they could see that it was possible to do it here, and there was an ecosystem that was starting to grow," says Andrew Strain, chief technology officer at AAC Clyde Space - the company formed after Clyde Space was acquired by Swedish firm AAC Microtec, although Glasgow remains the group's main satellite manufacturing site.
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Glasgow → start → Microtec
Soon Glasgow was host to an "entire small satellite value chain", from components and satellite manufacturing, through to launch, spaceports and ground stations, according to Daniel Smith, founder of space marketing firm AstroAgency and the Scottish Government's trade and investment envoy for space.
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Glasgow → accord → space
According to a review commissioned by Space Scotland, space manufacturing alone accounted for more than 1,000 Scottish jobs in 2022-23.
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manufacturing → accord → 2022
The wider industry generated £202m for the Scottish economy.
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industry → generate → economy
And as the industry grew, so did the pool of knowledge.
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pool → grow → knowledge
There are now more than 100 people working across space-related activity at the University of Strathclyde, with the subject now one of the institution's strategic priorities, according to Prof Malcolm Macdonald, its chair of applied space technology.
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subject → be → technology
The university works directly with commercial space companies on research and tech development.
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university → work → research
Macdonald recalls that when he graduated, there was basically no local space industry for him to join.
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him → recall → ?
…and 83 more, not listed.
The Aporia
