DARESBURY Laboratory is set to play a key role in developing a north west ‘space hub’.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is leading on the project, announced last week by the government and the UK Space Agency, through Sci-Tech Daresbury.

It is hoped that the scheme will enable the region to play a ‘more significant role in the rapidly expanding, multi-billion pound’ UK space industry.

Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “I backed the bid for a north west space hub because of its incredible potential to level up our economy.

“The space sector in the UK is already worth £15billion a year based on digital and advanced manufacturing, where we have internationally-recognised strengths.

“When you combine those strengths with scientific assets, such as at the STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory and the Hartree Centre and our plans to make the Liverpool City Region the most digitally connected in the UK, you can see the huge potential for the space economy to turbo charge our recovery as we look to build back better after this terrible pandemic is over.”

As part of the project, the STFC will work alongside ‘key partners’ including the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

Natalie Jones, head of regional engagement for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the north west, added: “The EPSRC is delighted to hear that the STFC’s bid in the north west of England to the UKSA Local Space Cluster Development Support Fund has been successful.

“It is testimony to the STFC’s immense abilities to forge partnerships across diverse stakeholders in the north west.

“The STFC is ideally placed to lead this project in the north west of England due to its long-standing investment in the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus and success in facilitating sectoral clusters such as HealthTec and Digital.

“I hope that this work will not only identify the great businesses already working in this sector, but also the potential for new research collaborations in the north west.”