Smallspark Space Systems, recent winners at the Wales Start up Awards, is the Start Up aiming for orbit.
Established in 2018, Smallspark Space Systems was inspired by CEO Joseph Ward’s boyhood dreams of being an Astronaut. Seeing that the UK was not in a position to help make those dreams a reality, the firm is working to develop a low cost, non-toxic and highly reliable next generation rocket engine.
With increasing demand to place Small Satellites (Smallsats) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the decreasing size and cost of said satellites. Smallspark Space System hope that their low-cost solutions will take advantage of the £4bn UK space industry.
Currently the company is working on a solution to take up to 400kg into LEO and an ultra-low-cost solution that could deliver 50kg into space for only £100,000. With tests scheduled for March/April next year, this firm is leading the way for Welsh-based company in the space industry.
The company has also enjoyed several award successes since start up.
Their first major win was being the UK Space Agency Glyndwr Innovation Prize which allow the firm to continue developing their idea.
Earlier this year they picked up a win at the SimplyDo start-up awards and followed that up with a win at the Santander Start-up awards representing Cardiff University.
Following their win at the Wales Start-up awards as Graduate Start Up of the Year, Joseph Ward commented;
“We’re thrilled to win Graduate Start-up of the Year; one of the scariest things in the world was putting my degree on pause to pursue my passion for space and exploration. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the hard work of my team and I recognised in a category as competitive as this! As we’re currently looking to raise further development capital via private investment, it adds huge legitimacy to the company that is needed for a venture such as this.”
“I am immensely proud of the Smallspark Team for the tireless work they’ve put into this project, and I would like to give a special shout out to my co-founders Dr Anton Bouloubasis & Saif Al-Ibadi, who took a huge risk jumping aboard this venture with me!”
To find out more, please visit the Smallspark Space Systems website.