Changing the economics of space

‘A Journey through Space and Time’

A Personal perspective on a career in the

Space Industry

Andy Bradford

Director of Special Programmes, SSTL

Contents

• A light hearted overview of my career so far

– To illustrate what it’s really like to be a space

engineer – good and bad!

– To illustrate which career choices can occur, under

what circumstances, and how to get them right

– To hopefully give some pointers to those in the

audience who want to pursue a career in space

• Looking to the Future

– Predicting what the Space Industry will look like in

10-15 years

– Suggesting how to prepare and position yourself

2

Who Am I?

3

• Not a Rocket Scientist – not a Mathematical Genius!

• Practical Person – Hands on

• Big picture Person – Like to see the context, how the

work I am doing fits in to the bigger picture

• Idealist – want to change the world!

• What have I done, How did I get here?

– BSc in Design Engineering

– MSc From Cranfield – Astronautics & Space Eng

– Young Graduate Trainee at ESTEC

– Project Manager/Lead Engineer at MOOG Bradford

– Systems Engineer at Space Innovations Ltd

– Systems Engineer at SSTL

– Project Manager at SSTL

– Director at SSTL

• Projects, Engineering, Special Programmes

When I Grow up I want to Be… (Tick one box)

Other influences..

4

Early warning signs about your ideal career…

Are you:

1. Obsessed with taking things apart?

– (To the extreme annoyance of those who own the objects)

– Occasionally electrocuting yourself and others

2. Fascinated by how things work?

3. Constantly following around anyone who is doing any kind

of DIY or home maintenance?

4. Fixing your parents ‘gadgets’ and other household objects?

– E.g. Video Cassette Recorders

– (N.B. this skill develops some years after skill no.1)

All of the Above? You’re Probably going to be an Engineer…..

5

First Steps in to Space….. Cranfield University

Great Mix of Academic Courses and ‘Real

Projects’

Group Design Projects – A good early indicator

of how you work and fit in to project teams

– Leader?

– Voice of Reason?

– Source of Ideas?

6

ESTEC – Young Graduate Placement (YGT)

7

Placement in the Test

Engineering Section

Designing Test

Hardware & Setups for

Large Spacecraft

For a green,

enthusiastic young

space engineer………

Disneyland..

Ariane 502 & TEAMSat

The Week of my YGT

Interview, This

Happened….

8

For Ariane 502, CNES wanted to fly only

dummy mass

ESA Insisted that some science was on

board

The approached the ‘lunch club’…

A bunch of YGTs and students built the

TEAMSAT mission in 10 months

SIL & FedSat

9

Space Innovations

Limited (SIL): A small

satellite company in

Newbury, UK

Prime contractor for the

Australian FedSat

Mission

Unfortunately Went in to

Administration in 2000,

before FedSat contract

was completed

SSTL bought the Assets,

and ~13 SIL staff

subsequently joined

SSTL

SSTL - BILSat

10

120kg Earth Observation Satellite

for Turkey – 2 yr project

Included a Training Programme -

~10 Turkish Engineers on Site

Small Project Team

As the Project Manager, I was

very hands on, integrating and

testing the spacecraft and

attending the launch campaign in

Plesetsk

Launched aboard a Cosmos 3M

rocket alongside two other SSTL

satellites

SSTL – GIOVE-A

11

ESA’s first Galileo Satellite – needed

to urgently secure the Galileo

Frequency Filing

I was the Project Manager for the

Satellite, which SSTL primed

SSTL’s First Mission with ESA -

Many disconnects regarding

process, and the ‘small satellite

approach’ vs the ‘traditional’ space

approach

The mission was completely

successful and still operates today (9

years in to a 27 month design

lifetime)

SSTL – Management Roles….

12

‘Real Work’ Ends, Replaced by Meetings

New Skills Required!

Applying knowledge and experience to

define and bound new satellite contracts

Helping to Define Company Strategy &

Future Directions

Putting the right things in place to allow the

company to grow and achieve it’s potential

Training and Mentoring the Next Generation

Representing the company in the wider

Space Community – National & International

Contributing to Establish Future Space

Policy and Strategy

Not all Excitement and Success…

Like any Career, there are occasional

frustrations, disappointments, problems

Things that can drive you mad:

• Documentation

• Reviews & Meetings

• Project Lifecycles can be long with

many delays

And when things go wrong, they can go

wrong catastrophically:

• Launch Failures

• In orbit Failures

The inability to ‘fetch and fix’ a simple

problem or issue on a spacecraft can

be extremely frustrating 13

The Current Space Landscape

Much Easier to Access ‘Real Space

Projects’ with limited resources

• CubeSats, Funcube etc.

We have our first ‘proper’ Astronaut

• Will help to give space a much wider

and broader appeal

Plans for the UK to broaden it’s Space

Activities and take the lead on some

projects and initiatives

• Space port plans

• Game Changing projects like Skylon

Things were very different when I started

out! 14

The Future

What will the Space industry look like in 10 years?

Key themes, current & future:

• Huge increase in the number of users of space

who are not aware they are using it (‘you and

me’)

• Interconnected Space Infrastructure – Sensors

– Communication platforms

– ‘Mass produced’ satellite assets

– The 2014 National Space Strategy identifies this

• Low cost access to space – game changing

technologies

– E.g. SKYLON

15

The Future Cont’d

• Majority of Space Careers will be in the Downstream

Sectors

– Apps!

– Likely to be staffed by people who may not know what a

satellite is

• BUT the Downstream can only be achieved if the

Upstream technology and Infrastructure is there

– Cost per data/information piece– made up of all parts of the

space mission equation – spacecraft, launch, ground segment,

insurance, etc.

– Low cost launch will be needed to underpin many future space

applications

• AND Science Missions will always be needed

– Space is not just about economics and making money

16

Planning and Shaping your Space

Industry Career

Know who you are and what Drives you

• Do you prefer to take as long as it takes to ‘get it

right’?

• Or do you Prefer ‘Quick wins’ and moving on to

the next problem?

• How you deal with other people – social skills

• How you deal with stress

• What makes you get up in the morning

• Are you a natural leader, and good at leading?

• Do others like following you? 17

Mid Course Corrections – which way to go?

Manager or Technical Expert?

CEO or CTO?

Bear in Mind some unfortunate facts of life:

– People make more money out of selling technology

than developing it (unless you’re Jonny Ive/James

Dyson etc.)

– BUT – a bus full of principle engineers has more

value than a bus full of managers

– You’re not likely to become a millionaire by building

satellites

– The people at the top of the value chain tend to make

the most money

18

Other Key Choices

Should I Stay or Should I go?

• Moving around the industry in early years can be a good thing

• But can be damaging in later years – don’t become a

‘journeyman’

• If you’re already in the best space company, why leave it?

• You may be able to grow with the company and achieve your

ambitions as the company achieves it’s ambitions

Working Abroad?

• Space is an International Business

• You will need to get used to dealing with different cultures

• Working abroad can help with this.

19

Make the most of What’s in Front of you

• Make the most of Every Opportunity that comes

your way, and try to create them when you can

• Especially in your early Career – get involved in

every kind of club, extracurricular activity and

society

• You never know what might come from this

– TEAMSat started as a ‘lunchtime project’

• Do your utmost to be in the right place at the

right time!

“ In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck” Obi-wan Kenobi, A long long time ago…

20

Changing the economics of space

Thank you