January of 2023 witnessed a landmark event in the United Kingdom’s space strategy— the first smallsat launch from the UK, with the flight (albeit unsuccessful in reaching orbit) of the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne system from Spaceport Cornwall.
Post launch has provided time to reflect on what an amazing achievement building the spacepor t itself has been, pulling in exper tise from across the UK to develop a world leading facility, with limited budget, shor t timescales and delivered during a global pandemic.
At KISPE, our motto is “Turning ideas into reality ” and our involvement in Spaceport Cornwall is a clear demonstration of what we do. Working with Cornwall Council, Cornwall Airport Limited and others, the team has led the conversion of parts of a former RAF airfield into the UK’s first Spaceport; a multi-user facility for aerospace and hi-tech related activities, and demonstrated the integration of spaceflight activities within a civilian aerodrome and with commercial airport operations.
KISPE’s involvement with Spaceport Cornwall began in 2018 in supporting Virgin Orbit secure grant funding from the UK Space Agency to enable the establishment of operations in the UK.
As a program and systems engineering company, with a team possessing many years experience in the design, manufacture, launch and operations of smallsat systems, the company is well versed in working with international stakeholders — stimulating and delivering complex programs.
In 2021, KISPE was contracted by Cornwall Council to manage the design and implementation of the spaceport development, overseeing the upgrades to the airport and construction of the facilities required to support small satellite launch operations from Spaceport Cornwall.
With significant first-hand knowledge and practical experience in conducting smallsat launches around the world, the KISPE team bought the lessons learned to the design of the Spaceport Cornwall facilities — optimizing the design, layout, and workflow to enable efficient and responsive launch operations, while also being focused on minimizing development and operating costs.
The project transitioned from the initial idea of the spacepor t facilities, through to completion in a little over 14 months, opening in September of 2022 — an achievement that is truly astonishing and an incredible feat for the team that came together to help turn this into a reality, especially given the global environment in which the program was delivered.
The project entailed rejuvenating an area of the Cornwall Airport Newquay that was once home to the RAF St. Mawgan Air Traffic Control Tower and fire station, clearing derelict buildings and preparing the site for redevelopment, a gift that kept on giving.
With the site cleared, work commenced on the construction, fitout and commissioning of a facility that supports satellite integration, launch vehicle preparation and check out as well as launch system integration activities.
If building a Spaceport within the timescales needed to support the first launch wasn’t challenge enough, it was completed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, with significant pressures on finance, and major supply chain and resource issues resultant of the crisis. Who would have known that procuring steel and plaster board would be such an ordeal.
We’ve always said that you’re only as good as your team, and that’s something else that has been demonstrated with this program. A project of this magnitude is very much a team affair — we were able to bring together and work with some incredibly talented teams from organizations across the UK.
The project would not have been possible without the support of companies and organizations such as AECOM, Bassaire, BT Openreach, Cornwall Airport, Cornwall Council, CORMAC, CORSEV, Dodds, Enverveo, Keir, Logical Choice, Microcomms, MWJV, NVO, Voicepath, Waldons, Wernick, Willmot Dixon and many others. Without this collaborative effort, there would have been a quite different outcome. After all, no man or business is an island and we wouldn’t have been able to achieve all we did without the assistance of these highly-competent entities and their phenomenal teams.
KISPE was privileged to have been given the opportunity to support Cornwall Council in turning the idea of establishing a spaceport into a reality, in designing and implementing the facilities that can now be used to support launches from the UK. A true testament to what has been achieved was the comment from a launch provider that the integration facility was one of the best and well thought out facilities that members of the team had ever had the pleasure of working in, from their many years of experience of working across facilities in the United States and elsewhere.
What has been developed at Cornwall Airport Newquay is not tied solely to one launch operator and related activities. Thought was given to how the Spaceport Cornwall facilities would be used for a range of smallsat launch activities and the site stands ready to support future launch operators.
Significant thought was also given to how the facilities could be used for future aerospace related activities, providing a world class infrastructure that can support a broad range of different applications.
While the KISPE team were excited to be involved in the development of the spaceport, the company is also eager to see how the foundations that have been put into place will enable future growth and development and what amazing missions will take place from the Spaceport and the airport in the years to come.
kispe.co.uk
Dr. John Paffett is the managing director of KISPE, a specialist project engineering, system design and implementation company working in the space, telecommunications and electronics industries. He is also the founder of Applied Space Solutions Limited, a company focused on the provision of space related analytics, applications and services, business partner of U.S. specialist training company Teaching Science and Technologies Inc, and Commercial Director of Spaceport Cornwall. An advocate for driving the sustainable use and application of space, he has proven engineering, management, strategic, business and business development skills, with a track record of working with international space industry partners in securing new business opportunities and delivering complex projects.
He was previously the Director of Telecommunications, Navigation and Launch services, for Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and Chief Executive Officer of the group's U.S. subsidiary (SST-US). As well as a strong technical and managerial background in satellite engineering, he has a wealth of experience, in the set-up, growth, acquisition, divestment, of experience, in the set-up, growth, acquis management and operation of businesses.