OXFORDSHIRE'S role as a global centre for pioneering space technology was celebrated by the Duke of York on a visit to Harwell Campus yesterday.

Prince Andrew, who is patron of the campus, deployed the newest satellite antenna from Oxford Space Systems as part of a showcase of the work being done by the hub’s ‘space cluster’.

Speaking to a room filled with industry experts and science innovators, the Duke said he had seen Harwell grow over the past seven years from being research-focused to a global leader in the new space sector.

He added: “It’s the human interaction between people that is going to make the difference to allow businesses to grow and overcome barriers to growth.”

The royal also met with representatives from Rezatec, Thales Alenia Space, Open Cosmos and Effective Space, which make up some of the 80 private, public and academic organisations which are currently part of the cluster.

These companies focus on addressing some of the greatest global challenges for space, from significantly extending the life of ageing satellites in orbit to using data from those satellites to enable countries to achieve better crop yields and manage water supplies to avoid drought.

One of those rapidly expanding is Open Cosmos, a company that markets itself as a ‘one-stop shop’ for getting small satellites into space, and which has doubled its staff every six months since it started in 2015.

Daniel Sors Raurrell, who liaises between the tech team and customers, said: “It is all about reducing the cost and time satellites take – going from millions and years to the hundreds of thousands and months. We handle everything from the paperwork to the launch, all the client needs to worry about are the sensors and the data they want to collect.”

The applications of cheaper, smaller satellites are ‘endless’ according to the aero-engineer, from photographing the crowd at a football stadium to measuring climate change.

Development manager for the space cluster Dr Joanna Hart said: “It is the oldest of our clusters, which now include health and energy, and it’s really exciting to be a part of having all these companies here in one place able to share ideas and collaborate.

“We are really starting to see the results now and that success is attracting even more start-ups.”

More than 800 people are currently employed as part of the cluster, with Dr Hart saying the goal is to reach 5,000 by 2030.

After his visit to Harwell, the Duke visited Williams Advanced Engineering in Grove.

While there, Prince Andrew and Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Tim Stevenson presented the team with the 2018 Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation. 

The visit also included an in-depth tour, giving the Duke the opportunity to see the state of the art battery facility on site that powers the entire ABB FIA Formula E grid while also developing batteries for road vehicles.

The Queen's Award is for the company's work on powering Formula E with innovative, world-leading batteries and commercial application of the lessons learned into road-going cars and other vehicles.