Hertfordshire space firm welcomes government attention

A Hertfordshire firm that produces satellites for environmental monitoring has praised the government’s civil space strategy.

Stevenage-based EADS Astrium, which develops satellite payloads for environmental, telecoms and defence sectors welcomed the announcement by science minister Ian Pearson to help the UK get a greater share of the global market in space technology.

Managing director Colin Paynter said that the space sector was often seen as other-worldly, a fact which means the industry’s contributions are not fully acknowledged.

He said: "From GPS applications, to the huge volume of communications traffic and the growing importance of satellite technology for environmental monitoring, the sector has a very wide impact on society in an unsung way.

"People don’t recognise that much of the technology behind everyday things they do has a satellite behind it."

Mr Paynter welcomed Mr Pearson’s commitment, which does not yet have any concrete financial promises behind it.

He added that there is a frequent misunderstanding that the space sector is largely government-funded, saying that it only accounts for up to a quarter of all turnover.