The Glasgow operation of Spire Global, which designs, builds, tests and operates small satellites that collect data on weather, shipping and aircraft.
Spire Global's Glasgow team builds and flies small satellites that watch the planet. Spire says it offers space-based data and "Space as a Service", meaning other organisations can have satellite capability without building their own. Its Earth Intelligence data includes radio signals from navigation satellites that are bent by the atmosphere, which is used in weather forecasting, and information on space weather. Its satellites also track ships and aircraft. In Glasgow, at Skypark, it designs, builds, tests and operates its satellites, and the company says it has launched more than 100 satellites from this base.
Spire opened in Glasgow in February 2015, initially using Clyde Space's facilities, and in December 2015 set up its own cleanroom and satellite production site, according to an Invest Glasgow timeline. A company page says it chose Scotland for its skilled workforce, supportive environment and small-satellite supply chain. It is expanding into a site about 2.7 times larger at Skypark, with an expansion recorded for 2024. Chief executive Peter Platzer said in a news release that "Glasgow has been a fantastic location for us". We did not find a formal mission statement in the pages read, so we have not invented one.
The UK team is a mix of engineers and people who work with customers and government. A news article, undated, said Spire employed 60 people at its main UK office in Glasgow and planned to take on 260 more over five years, which would mean 320. That is a plan from some years ago, not a confirmed headcount. A 2021 company article profiled UK staff including Dr Hina Khan, who leads UK engagement with government, industry and universities and sits on the Scottish Space Leadership Council, and Dr Tom Greig, who chairs UKspace's Earth observation committee.
On culture, Spire's own writing stresses partnerships with the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, industry and universities. Its long-term ESA ARTES Pioneer work has produced more than a dozen demonstration satellites. The same article highlights a sales engineer, Naziyah Mahmood, who works as a STEM Ambassador promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. It also says that being in the same room, after the pandemic, mattered to the team. These are company statements.
Roles in Glasgow cover the whole life of a satellite: mechanical, electronics and software engineers who design and build it, technicians who assemble and test it, mission operations staff, data scientists who turn signals into forecasts and information, and sales, policy and business teams. Physics, maths, engineering, geography and computing all lead toward this work, and Glasgow's universities and nearby small-satellite companies make it an easy city to build a career in space.
Website: spire.com
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