An Alton, Hampshire company, now part of BAE Systems, that designs, builds and operates small satellites and runs rideshare missions for customers who want to test technology in orbit.
In-Space Missions designs, builds and flies small satellites. Instead of every customer having to build and launch their own spacecraft, the company offers bespoke missions and a series of shared Faraday satellite flights. On a Faraday mission a customer books a slot on a satellite to try out a new piece of technology in orbit, which gives a quick way to prove an idea works in space. Its Alton cleanrooms, spotless factory spaces where satellites are put together and tested, can handle everything from tiny 1U CubeSats to its own small satellites of up to 150 kilograms.
Doug Liddle is co-founder and chief executive, and Tony Holt is co-founder and chief technical officer. They built the company from scratch from about 2016, and in 2021 Mr Liddle said that as it grew it was imperative to be able to reach the best talent in the industry. Mr Holt said the Faraday missions allow a rapid turnaround to show new technologies in orbit. The company's pages we could read give no formal mission statement, so we have not invented one. What the founders' words show is a focus on speed and on making space more reachable for smaller organisations.
In the UK, In-Space Missions is based on Omega Business Park in Alton, Hampshire. It moved there from the Bordon Innovation Centre in 2021 into about 500 square metres of offices and cleanrooms, and in July 2022 opened a second building, Faraday House. Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey of UK Space Command opened it and called In-Space the first small space company he had worked with. The company worked with Airbus on two shoebox-sized satellites, Prometheus-2, planned to be among the first launched from the UK, from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay. BAE Systems announced the purchase of In-Space Missions in September 2021, and the company continued to trade under its own name in 2022 (ACQUIRED: by BAE Systems, 2021).
On culture, the available evidence is about growth and local roots rather than daily life. The company was an SME member of the UKspace trade body, described by its chair as fast-growing, and it said in 2021 it planned to recruit around 200 high-value people over several years, then in 2022 about 150 more. Those are the company's own plans and are dated. It sits in a town in Hampshire rather than a big city, which suits people who want a space career without moving to London.
Typical roles include satellite and systems engineers, electronics and software engineers, people who assemble and test spacecraft in the cleanrooms, mission operations staff who fly satellites once they are in orbit, and project managers and business staff who work with customers. Engineering, physics, maths and computing are the usual starting points. The company's own website and BAE Systems pages are the places to check how the team is organised now.
Website: in-space.co.uk
PURPOSE helps school and university students explore 62 sectors and over 1,000 entry-level careers in the UK, then connects them directly with employers.
Explore PURPOSE