Head of Spaceport Cornwall
About us
Our ambition is to provide a safe, dedicated and responsible way to access space, capable of supporting small satellite launches and connecting people, businesses and ideas.
Our mission and purpose
The importance of space is growing, and a low-cost, competitive and sustainable hub in Cornwall will open up its potential for everyone, enabling innovation, modelling responsibility and inspiring change.
The nature and number of things we’re able to do in space changes and expands all the time, but it’s not just what we can do there that’s changing, it’s who can get there. Space is becoming more open: less the preserve of a few nations, and increasingly accessible to different users, whether governments, institutions, companies or individuals. They’re all becoming more dependent on space-enabled services and applications, not least – for example – the ability to observe the planet and track environmental changes from space.
Launches have always been environmentally controversial. Spaceport Cornwall can and will do it differently, and can and will show leadership, specifically, the leadership needed to make sustainability and responsibility priorities, and to develop technologies which mitigate the impact of launching.
Management team
Interim Commercial Director
John Paffett
Operations Manager
Luke Winfield
Project Administrator
Imogen Melvin
Outreach and Education Manager
Dave Pollard
Project Support Officer
Mandy Cosgrove
Business Development Manager
Ross Hulbert
OUR CONSORTIUM
Spaceport Cornwall is a Consortium made up of like-minded partners working together to open up access to space in order to benefit life on Earth.
- Cornwall Council: the owner of Cornwall Airport Newquay and Spaceport Cornwall
- Virgin Orbit: Satellite launcher and main launch operator at Spaceport Cornwall
- Goonhilly Earth Station: Mission management and satellite tracking provider
- UK Space Agency: Government Launch UK programme and project funder
Growing Cornwall’s Space Cluster
Cornwall is already experiencing growth in this sector, thanks to the expertise and facilities at Goonhilly Earth Station, the University of Exeter and Truro and Penwith College.
A thriving sector helps Spaceport Cornwall to open space up for everyone, to be a hub for innovation, and to inspire the kind of change which makes a more sustainable approach to space a reality.
This connectivity is crucial: between Air and Space Ports, between research and business, between people and ideas. A fully joined-up and unified operation – which shares resources, facilities and expertise – will bring about efficiencies which allow a sustainable, commercially-viable, high-tech sector to thrive.