Scotland is the leader in small rocket and satellite manufacturing, as well as harnessing data from space. Smith discusses the role Scotland is playing on the space stage.

As the world further extends its arms into the stars, the UK wants to be at the forefront of innovation, with Scotland playing a leading role. 

The UK Government recently launched a new Space Strategy that sets out plans to boost Britain’s space sector and position it as a global leader in this sphere. 

This includes the manufacturing of satellites, establishing rocket launch sites across the UK and the announcement in July of a new ‘Space Command’, aiming to protect the country’s interests and capabilities in space. 

Despite the great work being carried out across the country, and the technology already being made in Scotland – parts made here played a major role in the successful landing of the Perseverance Rover on Mars last year – many have no idea quite the impact this small nation is having.  

That is where Daniel Smith comes in. As founding director of space marketing firm AstroAgency, Smith focused on raising awareness of the benefits of access to space and helping further proliferate the Scottish space sector as part of the wider UK offering.  

In an interview with DIGIT, Smith discusses the past, present, and future of the space sector in Scotland, and how AstroAgency fits into the narrative.  

Scotland has already established itself as a major contributor to the world of space innovation, particularly through its heritage in deep space missions and its growing role in the commercial ‘newspace’ movement.   

There are currently five launch sites being developed, including Prestwick Spaceport and Space Hub Sutherland, and, with two Europe-leading rocket manufacturers now based in the country, there is the potential for full ‘end-to-end’ space capability.  

Companies like Edinburgh-based Skyrora have been making waves, through projects such as the static fire of their vehicles, suborbital training launches, plus projects developing fuel from non-recyclable plastics and fighting the continuing problem of space junk. 

Additionally, Forres-headquartered Orbex secured around £18 million in December last year to accelerate new UK space projects, as well as their work on the “world’s most environmentally friendly rocket”.  

Meanwhile, companies like Spire Global ensure that more small satellites are built in Scotland than anywhere in Europe. And local space data firms like Global Surface Intelligence, Astrosat, Resilience Constellation, Omanos Analytics and Earth Blox are using machine learning, AI, and satellites to fight climate change, identify illegal mining and fishing, and provide a more effective response to natural disasters. 

Despite this, Smith says the Scottish space sector is not yet widely recognised as a significant contributor to space technology.   

“Put very simply, space has a marketing problem” Smith comments. From his time building ‘newspace’ startups across the UK, he was noticing innovative and exciting space tech projects appearing all over the country.  

“I thought, ‘why am I not seeing any of this innovation on the news? Why am I reading the same negative stories every day on mainstream media channels?’   

“There are some incredible things happening in a really exciting sector and yet so many people are completely unaware of how space access enhances our daily lives or can offer new insight for businesses or careers paths for young people, despite the fact it’s happening on our doorstep.”  

And it is difficult to see why this is the case, particularly with the UK and Scottish Government’s major investments in future space technology development.   

The UK Space Agency also announced that, after COP26, that it would be providing just under £7m in government funding to eleven organisations developing satellite projects to fight climate change.  

“When people think about space, they think about Cape Canaveral and astronauts, but it is trying to get across this message that Scotland’s focus is small payloads on small launch vehicles from small spaceports, and it’s about getting satellite data to help the environment and provide a range of insights that can support society and our daily lives.”   

Britain’s long-term vision, the UK Government says, is to establish itself as an attractive and innovative space economy on the world stage, securing 10% of the global market by 2030.  

The UK and Scotland have now released space strategies which aim to boost the sector across Britain and cement the UK as a newspace super-power. 

In September, plans for a National Space Strategy were announced aiming to “empower” British space firms to “innovate and grow” by unlocking private finance while helping the UK to become a leader in international space research.  

In October, the UK strategy was followed by Scotland’s first space sector strategy. Smith says the aim is to take a more formalised and organised approach to supporting the wider UK space proposition. 

In Scotland, Smith adds, the push into innovative space technologies was not a long-term plan from the start, it was something that we “sort of stumbled upon”. 

“The strategy is about asking stakeholders across all areas of the sector to help us turn that unplanned strength into a structured success and ensure that both technical and non-technical jobs are created – 20,000 being the aim – as well as helping businesses to move into the sector and give them a new revenue stream during a time where the economy really needs a boost.” 

Some of the most important aspects of the strategy, Smith comments, are “its focus on internal and external sectoral collaboration, as well as the importance of encouraging inclusivity and diversity in the sector, educational outreach and its emphasis on a particularly exciting opportunity for Scotland – building a space ecosystem with sustainability at its heart.”

He adds: “Northern Ireland and Wales also have their own space strategies, so it’s an exciting time and very much about mapping out our own journey to boost the wider UK offering.”  

Smith also notes that the Scottish Government is very supportive of the sector because they see the benefits and opportunities for the country that the sector brings – whether it be Scottish products being part of supply chains, different sectors benefiting from satellite data or selling our end-to-end offering around the world. 

“There are a whole host of supply chain opportunities that the Scottish Government realises can be filled locally to help boost our economy, but they also appreciate that satellite data can enhance businesses in pretty much any sector imaginable by providing information and insight that would be difficult or impossible to receive without access to space.  

“The recognition from government that this is a new industry that needs support but has the potential to bring huge benefits to all, is one of the reasons it made sense to write the strategy collaboratively, with input from government, its agencies and also with academia, who provide a backbone for everything the sector has achieved.” 

A standalone Scottish space strategy is also a boon for the country in other areas. Not least of all, it signals to others that Scotland is serious about space. This garners attention on the world stage, potentially attracting inward investment and partnerships.  

Smith also adds that a strong strategy can inspire the younger generation to become interested in a future space career, as it signals a long-term commitment to developing the industry. 

“Nothing inspires like space and there are young people preparing to attend our world-class universities who would love to be in the space sector – we all have a responsibility to ensure they realise it is now a genuine career path,” Smith says.  

“I think that’s really important because it helps ensure we have the engineers and scientists coming through that we didn’t have when I was starting out at Skyrora, for example, but it also can alert people to the opportunities in space law, insurance, logistics, construction and, of course, space marketing! And now we’re making sure that people know, they can take this path because Scotland is a space nation.” 

However, Smith does admit that, despite Scotland currently being in a strong position, the country cannot do everything alone. 

“It is vital that we do have partners across the UK, and even further afield across Europe, because we’ve got to collaborate with countries everywhere. Space is the ultimate global industry.” 

He continues: “But there are certain things that we do in Scotland that we quite simply do better than anywhere else in Europe. 

“It’s about making sure we are not all doing the same thing and that we are all able to combine our expertise in different areas, contributing to a greater whole that can better serve a sector that is only going to grow.” 

One of the first things we do for clients here at AstroAgency is to get to know our new client’s online presence through a detailed website audit. We think it’s one of the most important ways to keep track of a company’s online image, and in this post we’ll explain what a website audit is and why you should be doing one regularly.

To help you get started we’ve also included a 4-step website audit guide which takes you through the basics.

A website audit is a detailed look at the design, performance, and visibility of a website. A good audit will check if a website is well-designed, engaging, secure, and user-friendly.

A website audit also includes making an in-depth analysis to identify problems, weak points, and areas for improvement. Are visitors leaving your site after just a few clicks? Or is a bad web design alienating your customers? A website audit lets you find these problems and help you improve your web performance.

Now that you know what a website audit is, why should you do it? You may think that your website is top-notch, but even the best-designed website can have hidden problems, and new issues crop up as you add content, move pages, or grow your online presence. A regular website audit will help you catch problems, keeping your website engaging and your web visitors happy.

So, now that you know why your website needs an audit, how do you make it happen? Here are four simple steps to get started.

First impressions count, and web visitors make up their minds quickly — a 2006 study found that web designers will decide whether they like your site in about 50 milliseconds. And this split-second decision has consequences — 75% of consumers judge a company’s credibility based on its website design.

So, beyond making your website visually appealing, what can you do to improve your web design?

• Make your website readable — break up dense blocks of text with subheadings and lists, choose a legible font, and make sure text is large enough to read.
• Keep it simple — text should be easy and intuitive to read, with nothing that can mislead or confuse visitors.
• Include a clear call to action — your webpage should prompt visitors to do something, whether it’s buying a product, booking a consultation, or getting in contact.

User experience can make or break a website, with 88% of consumers unlikely to return after a bad online experience. Once you’ve checked your web design, take some time to find out how visitors interact with your website.

• Check if your website is mobile-friendly — designing a webpage to be compatible with a variety of devices is known as ‘responsive design’, and with more than 50 % of web traffic occurring on mobile devices, it’s crucial to have a mobile friendly website.
• Navigation — your website should be easy to navigate, with the most important pages prominent and easy to reach. Make sure you also have a clearly signposted contact page for visitors to get in touch.
• Content — make sure that your website content is simple enough for visitors to understand. Not everyone is a rocket scientist!

With your website looking good and offering visitors a quality user experience, it’s time to take a look at the technical side.

• Check if your site is secure — is data transfer to and from your website encrypted? If not, you should obtain an SSL certificate and use HTTPs for your site. As well as preventing data from being intercepted, HTTPs helps websites rank higher in Google searches.
• Check for broken links or missing links — missing pages or broken links can make your webpage look outdated or badly maintained. Even if your visitors do get lost on your website, make sure they stay engaged with a customised 404 error page.
• Check your website speed — how fast does your website load? Google found that 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes more than 3 seconds to load, and faster pages rank higher in search results.

Is your website striking, intuitive, and up to spec? Great! Now it’s time to start testing it.

• Don’t test your own website — after spending time developing a website you start to lose perspective. Ask colleagues or a select group of customers to test your website and look for bugs.
• Test often — ongoing tests help identify issues as they arise, and keep your website performing well.
• Perform regular website audits — websites constantly evolve as new content is added and your business grows. Regular website audits will help keep your website at peak performance.

If you follow these four steps, then you’ll have made your website more engaging, easier to navigate, and more useful to your customers.

For a more in-depth website audit that focuses on both the content and technical side of your website, then get in touch with AstroAgency — our digital marketing team will go through all the steps above, as well as covering social media, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and investigating how users interact and navigate within your website.

Contact AstroAgency to arrange a website audit.

A UK firm which has established itself as a global leader in strategic marketing for space companies has been nominated for a number of prestigious awards for its work connecting and promoting those within the fast-growing sector.

Despite only being two years established, AstroAgency ranked amongst 10 of the country’s best small and medium-sized enterprises for 2021 after being nominated for Digital SME of the Year at the UK Digital Leaders 100 Awards.

Founder and Creative Director, Daniel Smith, was nominated for Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2021 Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award, while Marketing Manager Lara Zanoni has been nominated for NextGen’s Rising Star Award, an award that celebrates women in space.

Smith has helped drive the establishment of four space start-ups in the last four years and is an advisory board member for UK-wide student space group, UKSEDS, as well as being former Chairperson of Space Scotland, an industry-led group working in collaboration with both Scottish and UK governments and national universities to develop Scotland’s space sector in support of the overall UK space sector offering.

The UK government has made space a priority, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently providing the foreward to the UK Space Strategy.

Smith believes the nominations are testament to the firm’s unique offering and his team’s passion for working towards a sustainable, diverse and inclusive global space sector, with AstroAgency’s 23 strong team boasting a varied range of expertise from space technology, rocket science and satellite data analysis to business development, digital marketing, public relations and corporate communications.

Daniel said: “What sets AstroAgency apart is the diversity of our team and the technical understanding we can bring to our clients to help them enter, grow and succeed in the fast-growing commercial space sector.

The vast majority of our team have previous experience in space organisations large and small and have detailed knowledge of the sector – which, when combined with our passion for business development and marketing, makes us a good fit for many space firms. Even our interns are building satellites or launch vehicles at university!

“Being nominated for these awards is a nod to the hard work the team have put in over the last two years, starting up at the beginning of a global pandemic with a unique idea that hadn’t been done before, and we could not be more humbled to have that effort recognised.”

The Digital Leaders 100 list is curated by public vote and awards teams and individuals for their work within the UK’s digital transformation sector while the Great British Entrepreneur celebrates the best entrepreneurs from around the UK.

AstroAgency Marketing Manager Lara Zanoni was recently nominated for NextGen’s Rising Star Award – hosted by the world’s oldest existing space advocacy organisation, the British Interplanetary Society.

Lara said: “In the past, the space sector has been a predominately male dominated industry so it is brilliant to see women coming up the ranks throughout the space sector.

”I’m very proud to have been nominated for such a prestigious award that celebrates women in the industry, and to work for such a diverse company – in fact, AstroAgency has more women than men, which is unusual for the space sector.”

The recent award nominations come in addition to the firm’s nominations for two Sir Arthur Clarke Awards earlier in the year – receiving commendations in the Education and Outreach Team category and the Industry/Project Individual category, where Smith was recognised for his efforts to promote sustainability and a more diverse space sector.

The Sir Arthur Clarke Awards, better known as ‘The Arthurs’, have been presented since 2005 and recognise individuals and teams who have made notable or outstanding achievements or contributions to the space sector.

AstroAgency, which was founded in 2019, have not only survived the economic struggles of the pandemic but have had many successes within the space sector.

The firm creates and amplifies messaging from private and public sector organisations operating in space or looking to move into the sector, with a unique combination of strategic marketing support, brand building techniques, space media coverage, detailed technical knowledge and all-important market intelligence.

AstroAgency is helping businesses – that may not perceive themselves as space firms – to realise their potential and offerings in one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors.

The agency is on the hunt for organisations which have transferrable technology, skills or experience that can be utilised within the space supply chain and currently looking to hire three new team members for marketing roles.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, AstroAgency’s rapid growth and diverse remote team is based in key strategic locations, including London, Milan and Paris.

Following the announcement that AstroAgency had been named as finalists in two categories for the prestigious Sir Arthur Clarke awards ceremony in Westminster from one of the world’s oldest space organisations, the British Interplanetary Society (in conjunction with the Arthur C Clarke Foundation), AstroAgency have now been shortlisted for a Great British Entrepreneur Award from close to 5,000 entries.

Following the announcement that AstroAgency had been named as finalists in two categories for the prestigious Sir Arthur Clarke awards ceremony in Westminster from one of the world’s oldest space organisations, the British Interplanetary Society (in conjunction with the Arthur C Clarke Foundation), AstroAgency have now been shortlisted for a Great British Entrepreneur Award from close to 5,000 entries.The Great British Entrepreneur Awards is a platform supported by business and government that celebrates and champions the entrepreneurs behind “brilliant businesses”, according to its website. AstroAgency’s Founder, Daniel Smith, has been named as finalist in the Small Business of the Year category.

The news comes shortly after AstroAgency’s Founder was named as runner up in the ‘Space Achievement – Individual’ category in a record year for nominations at the space awards, losing out to the UK Space Agency’s Dr. Alice Bunn, who had worked closely with Ministers to secure a £1.7 billion UK investment in the European Space Agency.

AstroAgency’s SpaceBar initiative with Dallas Campbell and Suzie Imber had also been nominated in the ‘Education and Outreach Team’ category from close to 200 nominations, for their work to support the sector to network, share knowledge and inspire young people during lockdown.

AstroAgency’s Head of Operations, Daria Filichkina, stated, “To be recognised across three awards and named as finalists from many thousands of entries is a huge honour for our growing team. The Sir Arthur Clarke nominations further demonstrate our dedication to the space sector and the Great British Entrepreneur award shows that our work is being noticed across general business sectors, too. It’s all very exciting for such a young company and we’re grateful to everyone who nominated us!”

Strategic space marketing firm AstroAgency has been nominated for two awards from the British Interplanetary Society (BIS). The company’s virtual fortnightly networking event, SpaceBar, has been nominated for the Sir Arthur Clarke Education and Outreach Team Achievement Award, which recognises teams that have fostered informative, educational and inspiring online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s Founder and Creative Director, Daniel Smith, is also nominated for the individual space industry achievement award.

AstroAgency are one of three finalists selected for both awards, which will be presented by the world’s longest established organisation dedicated to the promotion of space exploration and astronautics. Established in 1933, the British Interplanetary Society aims to increase public and stakeholder engagement with space, and since 2005 have presented the annual Sir Arthur Clarke awards to recognise outstanding achievements in space activities. The BIS, in conjunction with the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, invited nominations from the general public and a nominations panel of senior representatives from all areas of the space sector.  A total of 166 nominations for 82 nominees were received this year – a record for the ‘Arthurs’.

The SpaceBar, hosted by science broadcaster Dallas Campbell and Dr. Suzie Imber, was established by AstroAgency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to encourage informal networking and knowledge sharing among the world-wide space community. The sessions are held on video-conferencing platform Zoom, where participants are invited to engage with a wide range of topics — from Artificial Intelligence to space tourism — during interactive discussion panels moderated by space industry experts. Participants have included representatives from the European Space Agency, UK Space Agency, NASA and other international space agencies, as well as students looking for career placements, start-ups looking for investment and a number of special guests, including British astronaut Tim Peake.

AstroAgency’s founder Daniel Smith, who has played a key role in establishing four space companies in four years and is also the Co-Chair of the Scottish Space Leadership Council, is nominated for an individual Sir Arthur Clarke award in appreciation of his enthusiasm for supporting the growing UK space sector, and his efforts to encourage the development of a more environmentally conscious, diverse industry. Smith stated,

“There’s no doubt that the last 18 months have been a challenging time to set up and grow any business, so to be finalists in two categories is a testament to our team’s focus on supporting companies across the globe to find opportunities in this incredible sector. For this to be recognised at such a prestigious space industry event, along with our commitment to educational outreach and growing a more diverse and inclusive workforce, is special.”

This level of recognition comes at an already-exciting time for AstroAgency, which within less than two years of operation has already established itself as a global leader in strategic marketing for space companies and those looking to move into the fast-growing sector. The international team of 20, which includes experts both in marketing and space technology, have secured 23 worldwide commercial and government space clients — the latest being German-based company ConstellR, backed by leading SpaceTech investors Seraphim and OHB, who use space data and revolutionary technology to monitor Earth’s land surface temperature.

Headquartered in Scotland, AstroAgency provides specialised and strategic marketing support to worldwide companies representing the space sector’s whole value chain — from spaceports, payload manufacturers, supply chain companies and government bodies to the downstream data firms using space data to benefit the environment, economy and wider society.

The BIS awards will be presented at the 2021 Reinventing Space Conference Gala Dinner in London, on Tuesday 29th June.

What to do before starting an online project? A simplified version of a marketing checklist.

• Competitor analysis
• Find out which platforms were used to create sites
• Determine which ad channels competitors use
• View search results
• Analyse Facebook and Instagram pages
• Analyse the Youtube channel

Project preparation

Website users are very demanding. They want everything to be simple, clear and pleasing to the eye. Therefore, you need to pay attention to usability, so that the user can quickly select everything that they need, so that they can complete their actions on the site without much difficulty.

It is worth conducting QA-testing of the website to determine the main errors and understand how critical they are. The client must correct them before launching the advertisement so as not to waste money.

It is also worth comparing the functionality of your site with competitors to see its advantages and disadvantages.

Connect web analytics

Before you start advertising, you need to connect Google Analytics to the website, set goals and connect ecommerce plugins and applications. We also recommend using convenient tools for data visualisation. They allow you to see in real time what is happening with the project and what is its effectiveness.

Decide on goals and KPIs

It is important to understand at what stage of development your project is. And at this stage it is worth setting goals and determining the KPIs to which you should strive.

At this stage, it is important to test the most effective Internet marketing tools. To do this, you need to work with “warm traffic”. Required KPIs are:

• ROI (return of investment)
• CPA (cost per action)
• Revenue
• Number of transactions
• Targeted traffic

Search advertising

Another tool that must be used from the launch of the site. When a user makes a request, paid search advertising can take up to the first four blocks in the search results. Due to the fact that it occupies as many as four blocks, many users simply do not reach the organic searches. They open the first two or three links and choose what interests them first of all. Only if they did not find anything suitable there, do they begin to scroll below this.

Paid search advertising takes up most of the first screen, and if Google Shopping is also located at the top of the search results, organic searches are located deep below.

Google Ads allows you to plan an estimated budget for search ads. These numbers are based on statistics, so they are not accurate. If you specify the keywords that you plan to use in search advertising, you will get a forecast of the estimated budget, impressions, clicks, cost-per-click, etc. You will also see a breakdown by device and by location. If you choose a country, you will approximately see how much traffic will come from each city.

Organic traffic

Organic traffic is free, you don’t have to pay for clicks. But if search advertising can be launched quite quickly, then organic traffic must wait at least six months.

Remarketing on Google Ads

Remarketing can be search, display, and dynamic. In Google Analytics, you can define and segment the audience of users who visited your site. You can customise ads on them. Dynamic remarketing is most effective. With it, you can show users the advertisement of the products that they viewed.

Push notifications

When a user visits the site, they see a window at the top of the screen offering to show notifications. If the user agrees to be shown, they will see push notifications with new site updates. This tool is free, but it needs to be properly configured.

Business pages on social networks

At the beginning of the development of the project, it is worth creating a business page and gradually filling it. This will allow you to put a link to the social network on your site. Users will be able to follow it and make sure that the company is alive, read reviews about it, etc.

Initially, one post per week is enough. In the future, this will help develop the community on social networks and make better use of targeted advertising.

AstroAgency has been awarded a development grant from the UK Space Agency to establish a space hub on behalf of the Scottish Space Leadership Council (SSLC).

A strategic marketing firm working exclusively across the international space sector has been awarded a development grant from the UK Space Agency to establish a space hub on behalf of the Scottish Space Leadership Council (SSLC).

International space start-up AstroAgency will use the financial support to advance the SSLC into a formalised entity, with the ultimate aim of connecting and promoting Scotland’s fast-growing space ecosystem nationally and internationally.

Established by industry experts, the space intelligence and marketing firm has grown to 12 staff in its first year, securing a long list of high profile and established global space clients and new entrants looking to transition into the sector.

UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway explained, “This funding will arm local leaders up and down the UK with the tools they need to put their local areas at the front of the commercial space race, while refuelling the tank of the UK economy”. UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart added, “Today’s funding announcement is another example of how the UK Government is securing the UK’s position as a global leader in the space sector. The investment in Scottish projects will contribute to regional economic growth and support the development of the space industry across the country.”

The SSLC was formed in 2016 as a voluntary, cross-sectoral representative organisation in response to the need for greater connection and collaboration within the Scottish and wider UK space community.

The Council has evolved a reputation for being an ambitious, results-driven organisation and now aims to formally act as a conduit for growth and gateway to a flourishing space sector.

Scottish Trade, Investment & Innovation Minister, Ivan McKee, said: “The SSLC, with strong support from the Scottish Government and its agencies, already plays an important role in the development of our growing space sector, most recently bringing together the developing spaceports across the UK to form the Spaceports Alliance. This funding will further enhance its work and support our ambitions for Scotland to become Europe’s leading space nation.”

“I welcome the UK Space Agency’s recognition of the importance of a unified industry voice from Scotland and for my part, I will champion the views of our sector at all levels of government. The Scottish Government’s aim is for Scotland to secure a £4 billion slice of the global space market by 2030, an ambitious but realistic target, and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration in order to further develop the sector and promote opportunities for our businesses.”

AstroAgency founder and space entrepreneur, Daniel Smith, stated: “We look forward to outlining a strategy that ensures the SSLC remains at the forefront of industry developments.”

“AstroAgency’s strategic space marketing focus means that we don’t simply raise awareness in space activity, but identify partnership and investment opportunities, provide regular market intelligence and connect partners directly into the NewSpace ecosystem.”

“Our experienced international space team understands the opportunities that this innovative industry can deliver across every sector imaginable, not to mention the important role it has to play in boosting local economies and protecting our environment.”

Chair of the Scottish Space Leadership Council John Innes commented, “The SSLC, working together with the AstroAgency team, look forward to establishing a formalised Scottish hub suited to connecting and promoting the country’s vibrant space sector”, while Linda Hannah, Interim CEO of Scottish Enterprise added, “The companies, organisations and support structures within the sector are on the same mission to create a thriving, world-leading and innovative hub that will drive an ambitious growth plan to create the jobs and tech solutions of the future too” adding that the award was ”great news for the space sector.”