Space Skills Alliance

I co-founded the Space Skills Alliance with my good friend Joseph Dudley. SSA exists to tackle the space skills shortage, by collecting and publishing data and analysis, promoting and advising on best practice, and bringing key stakeholders together to collaborate and learn from each other.

I started back in 2014 as a student leading UKSEDS, the national student space society, and organising major national events, competitions, and outreach activities.

In 2015 we built SpaceCareers.uk, a careers website for young people, which has become the go-to resource for the sector, and was recognised by Prime Minister Theresa May as “a crucial service to thousands of people across the country that want to learn more about careers in the space industry”.

In 2019 we launched the Space Skills Alliance to address systemic problems in the sector.

In 2020 we published reports and analysis on skills demand, job advert quality, and skills taxonomies, as well as a toolkit of resources for better recruiting. We were also selected to conduct the first national census of the UK space sector, launched by Science Minister Amanda Solloway during World Space Week.

In 2021 we published the first comprehensive demographic statistics, the first pay data for the UK space sector, and a report on women in the UK space sector, based on the findings of the census. We also launched our library of space skills literature.

In 2022 we created the Space Training Catalogue, a free directory of hundreds of training opportunities, and SpaceCRAFT, a space competencies framework.

In 2023 we published the Space Sector Skills Survey, and a report on the routes into the UK space sector, based on the findings of the census, and started work on the EU Horizon ASTRAIOS project.

In 2024 we launched the 2024 Space Census, the second national census of the UK space sector.

Panels and collaborations

I’m currently involved in a number of space sector panels and organisations:

• Member of Space Skills Advisory Panel (SSAP)
• Member of the Cornwall Space Cluster Steering Group
• Member of the UKspace Policy Advisory Group (PAG)
• Member of the UK Telecoms Innovation Network Talent (UKTIN) Advisory Group
• Member of the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) Education & Skills Working Group
• Co-lead of the South West Aerospace Network (SWAN)
• Contributing Member to the Future Space Technologies Astronomy Impact Working Group (FST WG) at the IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Sky (CPS) Policy Hub

And previously was involved in a number of other panels and organisations:

• Volunteer for Women In Aerospace - Europe (WIA-E)
• Committee member of the Space Universities Network (SUN)
• Member of the Data Intensive Science Network (DISCnet) CDT steering group
• Represented both the Royal Astronomical Society and The Open University in the Voice of the Future events in the House of Commons