BAE Systems has been “quietly involved” in space for the last two decades, but has said the time was right to make sure those conversations were heard by entire space community.

The company was one of the sponsors of the inaugural Space-Comm Expo which took place at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre. Director of Space at BAE Systems, John Young, explained: “It’s a really important time for space in the UK and with some of the ambitions laid out by the PM and the Ministry of Defence as well, it’s important to BAE Systems, is seen to be involved in the conversation.”

Young said the company had been “very quietly involved in space for the last 20 years” working with the European Space Agency and more recently with Lot 2 of the Serapis Framework which was awarded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (MOD). The Framework will focus on the areas of C4ISR, space systems, synthetic environments, and simulation technology to support human capability development.

Creating partnerships in the sovereign space community

Engaging and involving the entire sovereign space community and creating partnerships was another aspect which will promote innovation, according to Young

“Our involvement in the Serapis Lot 2 Framework, for example, is all about getting the best innovations into the UK sovereign market, promoting security, promoting prosperity and those things are core to BAE Systems’ .

“At BAE Systems we’re always keen to make sure the UK gets the best innovation, and the best technology, and I think a lot of innovation comes from SMEs, Its really important for us to make sure that SMEs have a place in the sovereign space capability development going forward and really develop that and we want to be a strong partner to SMEs to make sure that that innovation, gets to the benefit of the UK.”

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