Westcott based space sector businesses have been taking part in World Space Week 2021 in collaboration with the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) to celebrate this year’s theme of Women in Space.
World Space Week is an annual international celebration of science and technology, and the BIS West Midlands branch has been filming female engineers and scientists to learn about the exciting work they are doing in space related matters at Westcott, the UK home of rocket propulsion and the Westcott Space Cluster.
Interviewer Amelia Stanton of BIS West Midlands, BIS Scotland and Women in Space Scotland spoke to Lucy Stock, Nammo Programme Manager about the UK Space Agency’s new National Space Propulsion Test Facility at Westcott. She also spoke with Zoe Snelling who is head of missions at Nammo and Heidi Smith at European Astrotech, Laura Gonzalez Llamezares of the Satellite Applications Catapult and James Macfarlane of Airborne Engineering.
To watch the BIS West Midlands: Rockets at Westcott zoom event to celebrate World Space Week on 9th October register here https://bit.ly/3Frg8ng
The event will take you through a brief history of Westcott, listing its major achievements from the Lizzie to the Black Arrow and the launch of Prospero.
You will then hear from Zoe Snelling, the head of programmes at Nammo, who gives insight into her career and will also talk about the Mars Sample Return missions which Nammo are providing the engines for.
Airborne Engineering managing director James Macfarlane will be showing the test rigs for an additively manufactured rocket engine, the ESA prototype hover Mars lander, and a rectangular engine designed to test a Reaction Engines heat exchanger.
Lucy Stock, programme manager at Nammo, will talk about the installation of the UK Space Agency’s new National Space Propulsion Test Facility. Simulating space on Earth to test engines ready for use, such as the Mars Sample Return Mission. This is a game changer for UK propulsion.
Heidi Smith, propulsion engineer of European Astrotech will discuss the site visits she has made to French Guiana and Florida, where they test propellants immediately prior to launch. They create their own mission patch for each trip, and Heidi proudly shows us her Falcon 9 mission patch from a recent launch trip.
Laura González Llamazares of Westcott Innovation Centre will showcase the new additive manufacturing installation, and the test facilities they have to help UK firms reach market sooner.
To register for the event visit https://bit.ly/3Frg8ng
