Under the banner of the Department for International Trade’s ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign, Heathrow Airport awarded a total of £40,000 in seed money to firms seeking funding for international trade missions and foreign market research. Responsive Access, part of a growing number of space sector start-up firms emerging throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK, is focused on simplifying access to space for smallsat customers looking to reach orbit in the near future.
The company, based at Edinburgh’s Royal Observatory building, is a participant in the ESA BIC UK, a prestigious business incubation program funded by the European Space Agency and UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.
As well as attending this major event, the company is understood to have lined up visits to the facilities of a number of launch vehicle developers to discuss the formalization of partnerships that will allow their customers to select the most suitable ride to orbit for their payloads.
On the business’ most recent award, CEO Andrew Paliwoda said the company is really excited to have the opportunity to travel to this event as it holds enormous potential for the firm to raise awareness about this project and to source potential customers. Heathrow Airport and the DIT’s support, such as the ESA funding previously received, is something the company immensely proud of obtaining. We can’t wait to show potential partners the results of the team’s hard work to date and the firm's message to anyone looking to launch a payload into space is simple – let’s set up a meeting.
Ross Baker, Heathrow’s CCO, said that Britain’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy and Heathrow is proud to stand behind them. Whether it’s a Scottish company looking to cut the cost of space travel or a premium chocolate company from Yorkshire, this year’s winners set a new mark and Heathrow is proud to be helping take their products to markets around the world.
