Just like any expectant parent, I had a bag packed and was waiting by the front door. In these situations you never know when things will kick off, so it’s best to be prepared. The birth that I was waiting for was not a child, but the UK’s new launch capability to get baby satellites (known as microsatellites) into space from right here in Britain.
As a space scientist, and builder of satellites myself, I know of the frustration of a launch. Here in the UK we have developed an industry in small dynamic satellites. Microsatellites, unlike their larger brethren, can be turned around quickly. I spent part of my career working on the James Webb space telescope, a wonderful piece of hi-tech engineering designed to give us amazing new insight into the early universe and how it evolved. But it took about 40 years to develop, from concept to launch.
