From bedroom to boardroom: A career in space Client Conversations

Space wasn’t on his radar at an early age and it was only after attending the UK’s first ever space school in Sevenoaks that he realised “I could maybe get a job in space one day.” A physics degree from Oxford University was then followed by a stint at the Defence Research Agency – thanks to a trip to a recruitment fair – which turned out to be the launchpad for his space career.

While at the DRA he supported the Ministry of Defence on Skynet 4 and other space technology demonstrations in areas including surveillance and spacecraft dynamics, before joining Surrey Satellites. It was there that Doug established himself as a prominent figure within the sector, from running the Science and Exploration business unit to helping devise the UK’s first cubesat programme.

Now, as the co-founder and CEO of In-Space Missions after nearly 30 years in the industry, Doug is still playing a leading role in UK space. Think Sam Ryder rather than Elton John; he may not be a rocketman, but he’s definitely up in space, man. And his latest exciting chapter all started in a spare bedroom.

A new mission begins

When he first decided to start In-Space Missions, Doug admits he didn’t have a clear plan for the company’s focus. While figuring this out, he took on a range of consultancy work – which included running the UK Space Agency’s launch programme – to bring in some revenue. But his ambitions stretched beyond consulting.

“I did some really interesting stuff and was having a great time, but I knew I wanted to do something bigger. So I found a business partner – current Chief Sales and Innovation Officer Tony Holt – to help keep the consultancy going while we gradually spent more of our time on R&D. We looked into new technologies and played with loads of ideas along the way. In those early days, we pivoted constantly.”

The focus was on identifying the market potential of interesting and innovative space technologies. And this was when the spare bedroom came into its own – along with a selection of local pubs that provided a space for Doug and Tony to “drinks endless pots of tea while we tried to scheme up the next big thing”.

From taking out loans against his house to foregoing a salary when customers were late paying, the first few years were fraught with the usual small business challenges in a competitive technology landscape – all while the company was steadily growing. Then, in the middle of a trip to the US to secure investment, the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

“I flew home and watched the world crumble. And all the private investors we’d been talking to basically closed their wallets. It was a terrifying moment for the company, thinking that all the investment we’d been working towards wasn’t going to happen and that we’d have to fold.”

Then in June 2020, disaster struck again as In-Space Missions’ first satellite – Faraday-1 – didn’t make it into space. The rocket was the 13th launch from New Zealand company RocketLabs and it ended up in the sea. Luckily, the industry rallied. Many of Doug’s contacts got in touch offering their help and financial support and 2020 finished with In-Space Missions securing a large contract with the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). This enabled the company to grow quickly and start looking for corporate investment.

Becoming part of BAE Systems

“From the brink of disaster, the year ended on a massive high. It was an emotional time, firstly receiving calls from so many senior people in the industry who wanted us to succeed and then winning the DSTL mission. And shortly after, BAE Systems came into the picture.”

At this time, Doug wasn’t looking to sell the company; just to secure some investment that would help it reach the next phase of its growth. But, after some initial discussions, it became clear that the two companies were naturally aligned in their business plans and future objectives.

While Doug freely admits that BAE Systems had always been near the top of his list of potential investors, as with any acquisition there were concerns – such as a fear of losing control of the company he had built. But, more than two years on, the move has proven to be a success.

“Our industry has never really worked out a playbook for acquiring small companies. A lot of it comes down to goodwill and a desire to make it work on both sides, and that’s exactly what we’ve had. We weren’t being acquired to kill us off as a competitor, it was because we had something new – and now we have the financial backing and infrastructure to go and make our ideas a reality. We now behave very much as a ‘we’ rather than ‘them and us’.”

Growing UK space

As vice-chair of industry trade body UKspace and a member of the advisory board for Space South Central – the UK’s largest regional space cluster – Doug is well positioned to comment on the future of UK space industry. Given the history of invention in the UK, he believes this country can play a strong role in shaping how the global space sector evolves.

This will largely be driven by the UK’s strengths in finance and shaping regulations, along with our high-quality technical capabilities. “Here in the UK, we’re already strong in satellite docking, sample return, and delivering power from space. As well as looking to do more of the same, the UK should be setting its sights on the next wave of innovation. There’s no reason why we can’t step up and create the next-generation of applications and services that will position the UK as a world leader.”

Supporting the SME ecosystem will be key to realising this potential. On the one hand, Doug believes government must play its part – specifically in giving smaller companies the support they need to develop the technologies that will underpin new offerings. For example, smaller players with key technical capabilities have traditionally struggled to get government funding, thereby limiting their ability to build and grow.

At the same time, industry itself must be prepared to collaborate, as Doug explains: “Over the last ten years or so, space companies have tended to be very vertically integrated, which doesn’t leave much opportunity for smaller suppliers. Hopefully this is now changing. Our approach is to act more like an integrator. We want to leverage the fact that there are expert suppliers out there with a specific piece of niche technology that is far better than something we could develop.”

His argument is a simple one. These niche providers have already done the research and focused all their efforts in a specific area. They have specific capabilities that other companies don’t possess, so why spend several years and significant sums re-inventing something that’s already out there? That’s why supporting the wider ecosystem is so important.

“We want to see interesting space technologies popping up all over the UK. We want to see a thriving supply chain across the country, rather than everything being centralised in a few companies that do everything themselves. There’s so much capability around the UK and tapping into that benefits us as well as the broader space industry.”

Shooting for the stars

When looking to the future, Doug’s ambitions include maintaining In-Space Missions’ growth trajectory of doubling in size every year and exploring new interesting business ideas – which in the past have ranged from real-time immersive video from space to the world’s first ever space gin.

But in the short team, his focus is Azalea – BAE Systems’ low Earth orbit multi-sensor satellite cluster that will be launch-ready by the end of 2024 (launching in early 2025) to deliver secure military and commercial intelligence from space in real time. “We’re really keen to get the first satellites for Azalea up in orbit, which will quickly generate new business and data concepts. We’ll start to create valuable data sets and real-time access to edge-processed data that nobody else is doing. We’ve got a lot on our hands delivering that.”

Sustainability is also on Doug’s mind. Specifically, finding ways to refresh and drive additional use from existing satellites in order to limit the number of launches required and reduce space debris.

There are many components to this vision. For example, the functionality of satellites is heavily guided by their digital hardware. It’s the same concept as owning a phone, which generally has to be upgraded every few years because the battery life drops or the processor becomes too slow to run the latest apps. Doug and his team are investigating not only how to launch satellites with larger ‘batteries’ so they can last longer, but also how to perform in-orbit upgrades of constellations.

“We’re looking at ways we can work in a smarter and more sustainable manner, such as through reprogrammable satellites rather than single use satellites with limited lifespans. Just because you can keep launching satellites, it doesn’t mean you should. We want to make sure when we do launch a satellite, we’re doing it for the right reasons; not because we couldn’t be smarter about making our satellites last longer.”

This would represent a significant shift in space operations. When combined with other practices such as hosting multiple customer systems on a single satellite instead of building satellites with individual payloads, the positive impact such an approach could have on both the environment and on costs becomes clear.

As Doug says: “It’s clear in my mind that fewer satellites that are more targeted is the right answer.” With that mind-set, we can be confident that the mission of ensuring the sustainability of space for future generations is in safe hands.