The Isle of Man’s Space sector was well represented at the prestigious Satellite 2013 conference, one of the most important events of the year for the global space industry, which took place at the Washington Convention Centre in Washington DC last week.
 
Alex Downie OBE MLC, the Department’s Political Member with responsibility for Space said:
 
‘The level of awareness amongst those we spoke to about the Isle of Man’s benefits for the Space industry was quite amazing.  The work that has been done to date in raising the Island’s profile has been very successful and we are starting to see increased levels of enquiries from companies across the board wishing to explore how an Isle of Man presence could benefit their business models. Testament to the success that has been achieved is the fact that the Space sector now accounts for over 1% of the Island’s National Income.’
 
Tim Craine, Business Development Director, Department of Economic Development (DED) added:
 
‘We were kept busy the whole time with good quality enquiries and I am confident that we will see more companies moving to the Island in the near future as a result of our attendance at Satellite 2013.’
 
The Isle of Man team attended a number of meetings involving lawyers, accountants, satellite operators, launch providers and service providers and were delighted with the levels of interest and enquiries, which are now being actively pursued.
 
The opportunity was also taken to renew contact with the representatives of the International Space University (ISU) who were in attendance. The ISU have been very supportive of the Isle of Man’s Space sector and established the International Institute of Space Commerce in partnership with the Isle of Man Government, which is based in Douglas.