6 minute read
STEM in Action at Snowdonia Space Centre
As you travel through the lanes of Llanbedr, along the coast of Snowdonia with its changing autumnal colors, it’s hard to believe that just meters away there is a space center in the making. This stunning stretch of coastline, between Harlech and Barmouth, boasts a unique location that will see it emerge as a testing hub for the UK space industry.
Helen Reynolds, Account Manager, Radical Moves
Llanbedr Airfield has a long heritage. There has been aerospace testing off the coast of Wales for almost a century. In 1941, it became an operational base for Towed Targets -a target towed behind a vehicle that was used for target practice in WW2, and later Target Drone services for the UK armed forces. During the Second World War, RAF Llanbedr was home to 32 different RAF Squadrons on rotation who flew a variety of aircraft including Spitfire, Mustang, Typhoon, Anson, Lysander and Martinet.
Today, the Airfield is still very much in use. Owned and operated by Snowdonia Aerospace LLP, it has positioned itself as a premier commercial test center for UK next-generation aerospace and future flight systems such as drones, electric aircraft, urban and regional air mobility vehicles, airships and near-space testing vehicles. There’s a real attraction to working in the region due to very low population density and immediate access to air space over the sea.
In 2023, the Centre was awarded funding by the UK Space Agency and private investors and is in the process of developing a Space Technology Test Centre and horizontal spaceport that will act as a testing hub for the UK Space industry. Scheduled to open in March 2025, the Centre will provide an incredible opportunity for the local area and is expected to create many jobs. The Centre facilities include three runways and associated facilities such as aircraft hangars, workshops, offices and conference rooms that are currently being fitted out to accommodate teams working on space projects, giving them high quality accommodation from which to work. The Centre will also feature a Technology Test Laboratory, Clean Room, Rocket Test Stand, and 12m Variable-Inclination Rail Launcher.
The location of the Snowdonia Space Centre offers access to an immediate Special Use Airspace (SUA) around Llanbedr Airfield approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to support the ongoing development of novel aerospace systems in the UK. This SUA has been extended to include a larger area over Cardigan Bay on the eastern edge of the Irish Sea. The flight test range will provide a dedicated area for rocket-powered vehicles, near-space scientific flights, microgravity research, and trials of re-entry vehicles and payload recovery systems.
Stimulating local and national interest in space
It's critically important to the team at Snowdonia that the Space Centre is a key part of the local community. Plans for the reinvigorated site include the space port itself and also a visitors’ center, planetarium, and space observatory which would encourage astro-tourism to the area and couple together well with the Welsh Dark Skies initiative. Snowdonia National Park was granted Dark Skies Reserve status in 2015 due to its rugged, mountainous and largely uninhabited terrain, devoid of light pollution and ideal for star gazers.
The team has also placed a heavy emphasis on inspiring the next generation of space engineers and enthusiasts. The aim of the Centre is to be a job creator for the Meirionnydd area. In early October the Centre opened its doors for a two-day event, welcoming five local high schools to attend a Welsh-speaking Space Camp to spark curiosity in the pupils who may perhaps look seriously at a career in space, and to showcase the current developments. A UK Space Agency delegation also attended to view the progress that the Centre has made and to see how the funding is being invested. A drive around the airfield showed signs of the Space Centre taking shape, with the beginnings of launch infrastructure being laid as well as offices and facilities refitted for testing teams.
The day kicked off with a presentation from Jeremy Howitt, Future Flight Lead at Snowdonia Space Centre, and he talked about the importance of space to the local area and the national economy. He also discussed the plans in place for the Centre – exciting for the children as it is located right on their doorstep! In addition, Matt Archer, Director of Launch for the UK Space Agency, spoke to the students about the role that the Agency plays and how it enables projects like Snowdonia to come to fruition.
The students then had the opportunity to create their own model rockets with Thompson STEM Engagement, a not-for-profit company that gives workshops to inspire passion for STEM subjects in young people. The children spent time discussing the different parts of the rocket, learning about their functions and how they reach space. The Xplore! Discover Science team from Wrexham University also brought their mobile planetarium and other interactive games to the hangar to teach the pupils about the night sky. The Thompson team gave an exciting demonstration of various experiments that illustrated how a rocket works. This had the audience spellbound.
The students were enthusiastic throughout and the mass rocket launch that concluded the event was a hit. The sun even came out.
Jeremy Howitt noted, “We’re thrilled to be hosting this event both from a local and a nationwide perspective. We hope to have provided these local high school children with a unique opportunity to experience the Centre for themselves and to see the complex testing and evaluation that is involved in getting a rocket into space. Who knows, it may inspire some budding engineers who can see their future careers in the UK space industry.”
The Space Agency delegation was impressed with the progress made and to see first-hand how the Centre will eventually benefit the entire UK space sector by providing state-of-the-art test facilities to enable companies from all over the UK to develop, test, and qualify space technology and products in advance of their commercialization.
The development of the Snowdonia site demonstrates how infrastructure that is decades old can be reinvigorated for the space sector. Although the UK is a small island in relation to other nations, its diverse geography provides opportunities for the space industry and this can have an invaluable knock-on effect for local people, businesses, and on a national scale. It can also serve to inspire our next generation of rocket scientists and enable them to realize that a space career is actually much closer than they thought!
