UK space specialists start year by announcing major contract wins

Edinburgh-headquartered AstroAgency, has secured three further projects with the UK Space Agency, whom they are currently supporting to promote the benefits of the Clearing the LEO Environment with Active Removal (CLEAR) mission, led by ClearSpace, to remove defunct satellites from orbit.

They have also won new private sector contracts with leading global space consultancy Euroconsult, following a competitive tender process involving several different marketing agencies, and onboarded space data firm Earthwave for a short-term project to promote its latest products to the US market.

Finally, the company has announced its official role as the marketing-arm for industry-led body, Space Scotland, as well as confirming that leading satellite firm Spire Global will continue to partner with AstroAgency in the year ahead, following the delivery of two successful pilot projects together during 2022.

The positive news comes after AstroAgency faced turmoil last year as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A number of the firm’s staff based in the country were caught up in the conflict, including Chief Operations Officer Daria Filichkina, who fled the country with her young son in April last year.

Antonio Duduianu, AstroAgency’s Senior Project Manager and a recent recipient of the Sir Arthur Clarke Award from the British Interplanetary Society, stated: “This is a tremendous achievement following what was an emotionally challenging year for us and it sets us up well for our fourth year of operations and international expansion targets.

“The onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine had both direct and indirect consequences but didn’t prevent us from producing some of our most impactful work, including writing the world’s first space sustainability roadmap, together with our partners Optimat.”

The business regrouped and onboarded ten clients in the first quarter of 2022 with some employees working out of Ukraine during the Russian barrage, while other members of the growing team were dotted around space hubs in Europe. This success meant the company surpassed the milestone of supporting 50 space organisations within its first three years of operations.