We’re celebrating World Space Week this week. This year’s theme is Space and Entrepreneurship. We spoke to Sam Fleming, co-founder of Bayes Centre Member Earth Blox, about what World Space Week means to him and to find out more about how Earth Blox is contributing to the goal of making Edinburgh the Space Data Capital of Europe by 2030. Discover more in the interview below. What does World Space Week mean to you? For me World Space Week is about outreach. Growing up I had no idea that there could be a career within the space sector, and even if I did, I'd probably have thought it was restricted to being an astronaut or building space rockets. World Space Week is an opportunity to showcase the breadth of opportunity for working "in space", and the positive impact that space technology can bring to our planet and the people. This year's theme is Space and Entrepreneurship. What does this mean to you? I am a co-founder of a start-up who operate within the space sector. So I feel like the label of "space entrepreneur" applies perfectly to me. Space, as a sector, can offer so much in terms of helping to solve the biggest problems facing society today. We often think about the role that governments play in making this a reality, but more and more we are seeing the need for businesses to contribute too. For me, Space Enterpreneurship means spearheading innovation to bring about the positive change that we so desperately need for our planet. Image What inspired you to start this company? I used to work as a consultant, running satellite mapping projects on behalf of customers all over the world. Often their insights and subject-matter expertise were what really made the work I did impactful. Together with colleagues we have found a way to make it easier for people to make use of space data in their work, and accelerate the positive impacts they can have on the environment. We are achieving this by lowering the technical barriers to entry. Image How is your company contributing to the goal of making Edinburgh the Space Data Capital of Europe by 2030? Earth Blox as a company was born in Edinburgh, and continues to be based here. Although we now have team members spread over the country, the majority of the team is based here. In 3 years we have created 10 jobs based in Edinburgh, and this is only going to keep growing. Our client base is global, and includes some of the worlds largest organisations. We are regularly invited to present at leading conferences and events. All these are opportunities to raise and highlight the profile of Edinburgh as a city. Image What advice can you give to aspiring space entrepreneurs? Focus on fixing a pain, or solving a problem for people. Whilst space technology is exciting and continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, you should always start and end at a problem that needs to be solved. Find out more about Earth Blox by visiting their website. Connect with them on: LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Publication date 21 Sep, 2023
