Five companies in Scotland’s thriving space sector are working with partners in Denmark on crucial environmental solutions that could have global implications.
The space-data innovators are sharing in a £150,000 Scottish Enterprise Innovation Challenge which followed on from the first ever Space Scotland Nordics Summit.
They are developing new products or processes that address the most important innovation challenges identified by the industry, while enabling them to find new markets, working with Danish partners to take forward their projects.
The five successful applicants are:
Trios Renewables, a company in Glasgow, that uses information collected from satellites to help make better predictions when planning new wind farms, meaning they can be designed more accurately before construction begins. · Clyde Space – using satellite data to build an Earth Observation tool that helps check whether carbon-offset projects are actually working. · Frontierra, who aim to show how using satellite data can give clearer, more reliable information about the risk of deforestation, helping financial decisions be based on solid evidence instead of guesswork. · Environment Systems, based at Edinburgh University’s Bayes Centre, will use smart sensors and satellite maps to show real-time progress on restoring peatland. · Sensfish, Edinburgh, who plan to combine cutting-edge satellite imagery, AI analytics, and marine expertise with Earth Observation to deliver real time monitoring for reef operators. Scottish Enterprise’s newly-appointed Director of Scaling Innovation Nicola Anderson said:
“This project and these companies are a really fantastic example of how Scotland is an internationally collaborative innovation nation.
“One of Scottish Enterprise’s key missions is to support ambitious Scottish companies to innovate and scale and we’re doing this partly through integrated support for scaling companies and enhanced funding and investment.
“The space sector here is growing at pace, with bold ambitions and huge potential to bring a positive impact across our economy, environment and wider society.
“We’re really excited to be working alongside these companies and supporting them to innovate and scale.
The Space Scotland Nordics Summit took place in Denmark in March 2024 and brought together around 50 stakeholders from across the two regions to provide a platform for industry, government and academia to share knowledge and explore opportunities for collaboration.
The sector is one of the fastest growing in Scotland and aims to provide 20,000 jobs within the next decade and contribute £4bn to the country’s economy, with international collaboration as part of trade and export opportunities seen as key to enabling those ambitions.