At the beginning of June 2023, PI UK exhibited at the Space-Comm Expo in the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Center. The award-winning exhibition show-cased the complete manufacturing supply chain for products, services, and solutions in the rapidly evolving space industry.
The exhibition attracted an impressive turnout, with more than 4,000 visitors, 150 exhibitors, and 100 speakers, as well as forty sessions held in three awe-inspiring theatres. The excitement began with a captivating speech from Tim Peake, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), the first British European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to grace the International Space Station. As global experts took the stage, the theaters came alive with thought-provoking talks and panel discussions, providing invaluable insights into the future of the industry. Currently, the two key growth areas of interest are miniaturization and precision.
The UK Space Industry continues to grow, with a turnover of £17.5 billion and direct employment for 48,800 employees. In fact, the nation is slowly becoming the center for launching and developing small satellites. Glasgow boasts R&D facilities from three satellite companies, with another located in Wales. The UK's commitment to growth in this sector continues with the launch of the Space Cluster Infrastructure Funding (SCIF) on July 4, 2023, which will award fifty million pounds in matched funding to companies and academic institutions to boost the UK’s space R&D infrastructure.
With many more small satellite developers being founded in the UK, this continues to be an exciting green market segment for PI. The solutions for free space optical (FSO) communication, such as the fast-steering mirrors and other products, such as hemispherical air bearings to simulate low gravity, were of significant interest to visitors of the exhibition.
Our stand generated fifty-four leads with twenty-three specific product inquiries, as well as one significant opportunity already in progress. The team enjoyed a wide variety of conversations with stand visitors. While some were already familiar with PI, numerous attendees were delighted to discover our technologies and solutions for the first time.
The PI stand made it onto the show reel, as well as reaching prominent positions in the social media posts, for example, from Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Center. PI UK will be exhibiting at the Space-Comm Expo next year on March 6 – 7, 2024.
Contact person: Warren Harvard, Head of Country - UK