The Company on a mission to change the perception of space

Interview with serial space entrepreneur - Daniel Smith, Founder of AstroAgency

AstroAgency’s meteoric rise has not been without its challenges. The company, set up in the UK by a group of individuals from the space sector, had spotted a clear gap around marketing for space companies. As the firm was established, the pandemic hit, and as lockdowns ended its Ukrainian office was directly impacted by the Russian invasion. Yet the 22-strong team of ‘Astro Agents’ have quickly positioned themselves as the “go to” experts in strategic space sector communications, supporting 52 private space companies around the globe, as well as 7 international government agencies. They even found time to set up popular “SpaceBar” webinars to keep the industry in touch when the pandemic hit hardest, attracting famous hosts and astronauts to drop in.

The company blends communications expertise with space marketing guidance from their technical department, the latter deciphering the opportunities from any company across the space value chain; satellite manufacturers, spaceports, launchers, ground stations and space data sellers. They’ve also helped non-space companies transition into the space industry’s supply chain. Their impressive client roster includes Austrade, the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre, RAL Space, the National Space and Science Agency of Bahrain, the Swiss Embassy UK, the Scottish Government and leading space companies Spire, ClearSpace, Astroscale, Euroconsult, Astraius, Fire Arrow, Alpha Data, Global Surface Intelligence,

TradeInSpace, Asterra, ConstelIR…the list goes on.

As the space marketing pioneers move towards a fifth year of operations, hot of the success of delivering an International Bilateral Fund project between the UK Space Agency and Gulf partners including the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, the Australia in Space team caught up with serial space entrepreneur Daniel Smith. As well as leading AstroAgency alongside COO Daria Filichkina (who presented at the Indo-Pacific Space & Earth Conference last year on how space companies must change the way they approach adjacent sectors such as mining, agriculture, energy, fintech and maritime), he helped found companies such as global spaceport developers Fire Arrow, launch vehicle manufacturer Skyrora and not-for-profit Space Scotland – an industry-led organisation representing Scotland’s 150-strong space ecosystem.

The opportunity for AstroAgency as the original full service marketing company for the commercial space sector is clear, but tell us more about the key drivers for setting up the company beyond the demand?

While working in launch, I couldn’t shake the feeling that our industry needed to shout more about its worth to our economy, environment and society. The stereotypical perception of deep exploration and astronauts play a huge role in inspiring future generations and driving innovation, but it felt like the ‘newspace’ commercial angle was yet to be portrayed properly. I felt that growing awareness of the revenue opportunities to support the emerging space market’s upstream supply chain, as well as actionable insights from satellite data, was not really reaching audiences outside of the commercial space industry.

While we started out looking to fill gaps in communications, that has evolved over the years to the point where our fast-growing team and the partners we work with are on a focused mission to change the perception of space. It’s our responsibility to deliver targeted messages to new audiences on why space investment, protecting access to space and developing upstream or downstream space technologies is key to life on Earth for a multitude of reasons, and can also unlock new revenue streams for almost any business imaginable.

Another driver is space sustainability, an area that feels incredibly important, not just to the industry’s growth potential and its ability to function, but to the way we all live our lives through frequent interactions with satellite data.

On that, space sustainability thought-leadership has been an area where AstroAgency has developed a reputation as experts. You were invited to speak at COP28 to present the role of space in the drive towards Net Zero, alongside Scotland’s First Minister and astronaut Anousheh Ansari. How does a marketing company become such an influential voice in space sustainability?

We’re in a very fortunate position, playing an active role supporting so many space companies, universities and government agencies around the world. This enhances our understanding of the disastrous effects that future orbital collisions could have and we don’t want the sector to wait to address the debris challenge until a serious event happens – then its too late. There are literally millions of pieces of debris racing around in orbit and we build outreach campaigns to raise awareness in the dangers of these flying bullets to all of the services that need information from satellites, and indeed humans on the space station! We promote active debris removal missions alongside the UK Space Agency, ClearSpace and Astroscale, as well as space domain awareness firms like SpaceFlux tracking debris from the ground, and companies like Spire who build the infrastructure for the likes of NorthStar and the Austrian Space Forum to track debris from vantagepoints in space.

Importantly, its not just about in-orbit space sustainability. I’m passionate about innovation that reduces the environmental impact of space on Earth, having engaged a lot with charity Friends of the Earth, and showcasing that beyond ensuring out food is delivered, our internet works in remote areas and our taxis arrive in time, the most important applications for space data – supporting disaster relief, mitigating climate change and tracking illegal activity - are limited only by our imagination.

The more people that can raise awareness in what may be the biggest challenge facing the sector, the better. People like Prof. Moriba Jah and Max Alexander have been hugely supportive of our work around this issue and I definitely class myself as a “space environmentalist” - a term coined by Moriba that I think captures the movement succinctly, while garnering interest and intrigue from those unfamiliar with the severity of the situation. That’s how good awareness raising is done!

AstroAgency’s ability to win clients and grow your team’s international presence despite the difficulties faced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are well documented. COO Daria Filichkina received a Sir Arthur Clark Award last year from the British Interplanetary Society in recognition of the firm’s resilience. How much does that ongoing conflict still affect the company?

We still have team members in Ukraine. Those who managed to leave the country safely, including Daria (and indeed 20 members of my wife’s family) are still impacted daily. They want to get home and the ongoing uncertainty hits every aspect of one’s life, from your finances to your mental health. Beyond team members in Ukraine, we all have friends and family there. But Daria’s speech at the ceremony said it all. Work was the one normal thing she had, so while fleeing the country with her mum, son and dog she found herself stopping for calls with our clients –much to our team’s shock – throughout her journey from Ukraine to Scotland. She didn’t want to let our clients or the sector we support down, but she also needed that focus, that constant. My daughter and Godson are Ukrainian and I sometimes wonder how we’ll ever properly explain the invasion that’s shaping their childhood.

The company has been described as a female-majority space company – how important is diversity to AstroAgency, and to the space sector?

It shows our approach of hiring the best people regardless of any factor except passion and ability is working. Our recruitment process – space marketing is a tricky skillset to find – removes pipeline blockers through inclusivity. The result happens to be female-majority for us, and the wider space sector must take this same approach. Ensure that there are no conscious or unintended blockers for technical or non-technical roles and you remove barriers to sectoral growth, that ultimately comes from new generations or people transitioning into the industry from other markets.

Bring used as an example of a female-majority space company, much like the Sir Arthur Clarke Award, also demonstrates that AstroAgency are not viewed as a marketing agency with space clients, but a space company that specialises in communications, market guidance and messaging. This is an important distinction, reflecting our company culture and commitment to supporting the space economy from the inside.

What are the company’s goals for the year ahead?

Client retention is always key. We’re moving into our third year with Euroconsult, second year with Spire, fourth year with FPGA board manufacturers Alpha Data, second year with space sustainability firm ClearSpace. Beyond that, we’ve announced our intention to expand our footprint internationally. My business partner Daria was invited to present at the Indo-Pacific Space & Earth Conference and explored some ideas in Australia. There are clear parallels between the UK and Australian space sectors, as well as the Space Bridge initiative. My sister is also based in the country and is a huge advocate for the way of life! It’s a fantastic option and we’re already growing our clients in the Gulf and Asia, so it feels like a good idea to open new bases outside of Europe.