The first NW Space Cluster meeting of 2024 was held at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire on March 21st.  Attendees were welcomed by the Observatory’s Associate Director, Simon Garrington, who gave an overview of the observatory’s history and ongoing research.  Alan Cross then outlined the Agenda and gave a quarterly review.  He explained how the industry had expanded in the region over the first year of the Cluster’s existence and some of the successes. 

A new Space Enterprise Lab has opened in North Wales at the OpTIC centre on the St Asaph Business Park.  OpTIC is a business and technology centre owned and operated by Wrexham University.  It also specialises in innovative optical systems, product development, engineering and technology consulting. The Space Enterprise Lab is a facility for users within the UK Space Sector that enables virtual meetings, business sprints and other activities.  There are now 14 Space Enterprise Labs in the UK. The new facility was opened by John Abbott, CEO Satellite Applications Catapult.

There’s a new student Space Society now in our region!  On February 6th 2024 Liverpool Hope University Space Society (LHUSS) held their inaugural event.  The event, in the University campus, was attended by students, staff and invited guests.

The Digital Security Hub (DISH) in Manchester was the venue for the NW Space Cluster meeting on November 10th 2023.

The 2023 British Interplanetary Society Reinventing Space Conference was held in the Spine, Liverpool on the 11-13 October.  Reinventing Space is an international conference and exhibition dedicated to advancing future capabilities in space and highlighting future trends and the date was chosen to coincide with the formation of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) in Liverpool in October 1933.

The Industrial Solutions Hub (ISH), an enterprise social value initiative based in Cleaton Moor, Cumbria held a Space Event week starting on 26th June the aims of which were to explore the opportunities in the Space industry that West Cumbria, with it’s skills and expertise especially in nuclear work, could exploit and also to make young people aware of future Space opportunities and the NSC and some members were there to support it.

The third Space Cluster meeting was held at Daresbury on May 25th 2023.  Following an introduction by Alan Cross, Paul Vernon the Head of Daresbury Laboratory described the fantastic facilities at the Laboratory and some of the ground breaking work being done there.   Alan Cross then explained how the industry had expanded in the region over the first year of the Cluster’s existence and some of the successes. 

The UCLan Engineering Innovation Centre (EIC) in Preston was the venue for the second meeting of the North West Space Cluster on the 23rd February.

The National Conference of the UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (UKSEDS) was held over the weekend of March 4th/5th 2023 at Manchester University.

As part of developing our region’s Space environment The Northern Space Consortium (NSC) has always supported student space societies.  So the NSC was very happy to support the first UKSEDS North and East Cluster Conference that was held on 4th February in the University of Liverpool.