Just a quick update this month. Our Founder Tom Walkinshaw has been interviewed by SIE (Scottish Institute of Enterprise) talking about Alba Orbital and our Space Burial / Ashes products and services. Enjoy!
We are very pleased to announce that we have secured our place at Entrepreneurial Spark. Joining in such a partnership is highly beneficial for the growth and development of Alba. We believe that it not only provides us with office space, IT and facilities which are vital to our success; but more importantly experienced business mentoring, support, workshops and networking events which are invaluable.
Supported by philanthropists and inspirational figureheads such as Sir Tom Hunter, Sir William Haughey OBE, and Ann Gloag OBE, local councils, universities, big businesses and sponsored by RBS. Espark is a dynamic and innovative work environment which is fueling ambitious entrepreneurs with the resources needed to make their goals a reality.
We are proud to be apart of it!
“#GoDo is not just a hashtag, its a way of thinking – the way of thinking”
You can visit the Espark website here.
I often get asked ‘why’ I am starting a Space Burial Company. I thought I would do a blog on ‘why’ we exist and the importance of innovation. The stated goal of Alba Orbital is to “Commercially sustainable sub-cubesat class satellites”. This has never been done before and in most peoples opinion is many years from fruition.
We disagree with this and aim to prove that it is in fact not the case. All Cubesats to date have essentially been a huge financial loss (or vanity projects). This means that you are inherently reliant on the good will of any funding body. As times get tough the projects are chopped. By offering consumers a service (Space Burial), our flights will fly as often as is required to meet customer demand. If people want it, we will fly very regularly.
The second reason we exist is we want to see ship building back on the banks of the Clyde, Spaceships that is. Glasgow once produced a quarter of all ships on Earth and the term ‘Clydebuilt’ was known globally as a sign of quality. The late Jimmy Reid (a famous shipbuilding trade unionist) stated Glasgow should position itself as the place to build ships, not just from the 19th and 20th century, but as the place to built the ships of the 21st and 22nd century. Space is the new ocean these ship will sail on.
Glasgow has a real opportunity to grasp the lead in a growing small satellite sector. We already have the largest Cubesat company in the world (Clyde Space) building Scotland’s first orbital satellite UKube-1. Steepest ascent are building components for UKube and are also based in Glasgow. We also have two of the most forward thinking Universities, Glasgow and Strathclyde. They are working on De-orbit sails, Sub-Orbital student flights and lots more. Within a radius of 3 miles we are starting to see a new cluster. ‘Clyde Built Spaceships’ don’t seem so crazy after all.
Shipbuilding is coming home. Space Burial is our way to contribute to the Clydeside shipbuilding of the 21st century..
Just a quick post of our video entry in the Shell Livewire competition. Was filmed at the University I attended (Glasgow Caledonian University) and should give you a flavour of the Space ambitions we have for Alba. Enjoy!
Alba Orbital have got through to the national round of a major start-up competition and now need your help to go one better and win £1000 for our Space Start-up. Voting for us is super easy, just click the link which will take you to the Shell Live Wire Website and vote for us.
We have a 1 minute elevator pitch video which tells you our plans for the company/what we would if we were lucky enough to win. Our competition is fierce with bigger, more established companies standing in our way. Every vote counts, we believe Space is important and more start-up satellite companies should be succeeding!
Thanks for your support!