Destination Durham for two UK space events
Last month our Strategic Partnerships Manager, Dr Liz Clutton, and Dan Smith, our Business Development Manager, headed to Durham for the North East Space Conference
Strategic Partnerships Manager, Dr Liz Clutton, and Dan Smith, Business Development Manager at the North East Space Conference.
Hosted by our fellow cluster colleagues, Space North East England, at the city’s Radisson Blu hotel, this year’s conference brought together more than 350 delegates from industry, academia, government and the investment community to explore future opportunities for growth, collaboration and inward investment.
The following day, representatives from the Satellite Applications Catapult, UK regional space clusters and UK Space Agency headed to Durham University’s Business School for a UK Space Ecosystem event on Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) .
Dr Liz Clutton shares her highlights from both events.
North East Space Conference 2026
This was my first North East Space Conference and it didn’t disappoint, with a jam-packed itinerary and attendees from across the space sector, academia and government.
Dr Rajan Bedi, CEO of Spacechips – award-winning specialists in smart space electronics – gave an insightful talk about investment opportunities in the space sector.
Dr Rajan Bedi presenting at the North East Space Conference.
I sat in on a really interesting panel discussion, Cross Sector Talent Pathways: Building The Future UK Space Workforce. Airbus Defence & Space’s Head of Social Value and Sustainability, Lucinda Williams, introduced their apprenticeships and how the company works with young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) to offer them opportunities to get upskilled. Also on the panel was Dave Moody, Director of the North East Space Skills & Technology Centre (NESST), who spoke about NESST’s apprenticeship and training opportunities and employer partnerships with companies including Lockheed Martin.
Seraphim’s Managing Director, Alexander Holt, gave a great talk on frontier technology and the investment stakes in the space sector. He also discussed the Space X IPO and how it could reshape the entire commercial space economy.
Alexander then joined a panel discussion: Unlocking Growth: Investment, Funding and International Partnerships For A Competitive UK Space Economy. Jonathan Errici from Barclays Eagle Labs led the session, which included ESA’s Head of Systems, Strategic Programme Lines and Technology, David Phillips; Ben Wells, Senior Science Benefits & Assurance Manager at the UK Space Agency, and Vicky Mears, North East Director for British Business Bank, which has invested £20 million in Seraphim to support UK Space companies.
UK Space Ecosystem Bi-Annual Event: ACT
The day after the North East Space Conference, it was off to Durham University Business School for this UK Space Ecosystem event, comprising representatives from the Satellite Applications Catapult, UK space clusters and the UK Space Agency.
The main topic for the day was Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) and UK capabilities and opportunities across a vast array of fields, from quantum communications to photonics, semiconductors to satellites.
Cutting-edge technologies for transmitting data across digital networks, ACT connect people, systems and devices and are essential for other technologies like AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and smart systems to scale.
With a view to ultimately establishing ACT collaborations across the UK, presentations and workshops throughout the day explored:
Driving greater ACT development in the UK
Providing UK ACT companies with the facilities they need to grow
Ensuring spectrum availability to support ACT
Deepening our international collaborations with other leading ACT-developing countries
Following the event, the Space South Central team will be assessing our region’s ACT capability across businesses and academia, where the opportunities are and what support is needed.
