The UK Space Conference is one of the world’s biggest and best space events, three days of immersion and networking, attracting a turnout of 1225 delegates, 109 exhibitors and 150 speakers in 28 sessions dealing with various themes.

This forum, held every two years, chooses a different venue each time. This year, from 30 May to 1 June, came the turn of Manchester, bringing together government, industry, academia, customers, suppliers, education providers, researchers, etc, to swap ideas and compare notes on the space community’s latest breakthroughs, technological developments and innovations, while exchanging views on how this knowledge might bring about changes of a social, political and economic nature.

GMV, running a subsidiary in Oxfordshire (UK), is now helping to drive the British space sector forward. It therefore attended this event as exhibitor, showcasing its current range of space-segment services and products (guidance, navigation and control systems) as well as its ground-segment developments (telecommunication-satellite control centers, earth-observation-mission data processing systems and applications using space technologies and data) and its inhouse robotics developments. Stress was laid on the areas actually run from the British subsidiary and the projects it is currently carrying out. Within the robotics area GMV is participating in the HRAF (Harwell Robotics and Autonomy Facility) development as well as in ERGO (European Robotic Goal-Oriented autonomous controller) within the European Peraspera framework. In the earth-observation area GMV is developing processing elements for ESA’s EarthCare mission as well as satellite-data applications as support for mining, agriculture and migratory crises.

This conference showcases the United Kingdom’s commitment to the development of forward-looking space technologies. It is the UK’s aim to build up to 10% of the worldwide space market by 2030, representing a figure of 500 trillion euros.

The congress hailed the milestones and advances in the various areas of the UK’s space sector. It is worthy of note that activity within the British space sector, boosted by firm governmental support, is especially brisk. It boasts a big participation in European Space Agency programs and the national space application and technology development programs. In this ongoing endeavor the conference has been a resounding success, acting as a crucial networking forum for clients, partners and suppliers.