Cornwall space technology centre 'hugely exciting' says minister

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said a new base for space technology firms is a "hugely exciting asset" to Cornwall and the UK.

He cut the turf to start building the £5.6m Centre for Space Technologies at Newquay Airport, from where a satellite is due to be launched in the summer.

Mr Kwarteng said the centre would create 150 jobs and bring space businesses and academics together.

The Kernow Sat 1 satellite will measure ocean pollution and deforestation.

Mr Kwarteng said the centre "will be a hugely exciting asset to both Cornwall, and to the UK's space sector as a whole".

And he said it would "contribute to vital research and development" and bring together "industry and academia to exploit space to solve some of humanity's greatest challenges".

Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said the neighbouring Centre for Space Technologies was proof of Spaceport's "ambitions to lead the way in a global industry shift" towards solving global climate challenges.

The centre is joint-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council and the UK Government's Getting Building Fund.

The launch of Kernow Sat 1, on a date to be set, follows the successful launch by a Virgin Orbit plane of satellites from the US.

Kernow Sat 1 and a number of other satellites will be put in space by a rocket-propelled launcher attached under the wing of a Virgin Orbit plane.

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