Former spaceport boss lands new role

The former head of Spaceport Cornwall has been appointed to a new role with a US space data and tracking company.

Melissa Quinn announced she was stepping down from her previous job last month.

Her decision came five months after overseeing the first satellite mission launched from UK soil, that ended in failure when the Virgin Orbit rocket had an "anomaly".

She said she was "thrilled" to become general manager of Slingshot Seradata.

She added that her new employer was "at the forefront of revolutionising successful, safe and responsible space operations, which is near and dear to my heart".

She will succeed Tim Fuller as general manager when he retires on 1 July.

She said: "I will build on Tim's legacy at Seradata, and will further deliver unparalleled insights to our customers, benefiting their operations, and ultimately, all of us here on Earth. That's why I am here, and that's why I'm proud to be a Slingshooter."

The failure of the Start Me Up mission not successfully getting satellites into orbit, along with Virgin Orbit filing for bankruptcy, has cast some doubt over the future of Spaceport Cornwall.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it remained a fully licenced Spaceport, but its operating licence would need to be amended before a new operator could launch from there.

Last month Cornwall Council announced its two-year space sector strategy, including an expectation of 150 jobs at the spaceport by 2025.

Slingshot Aerospace describes itself as "a space tech company that develops data, simulation, and analytics products to optimize space missions, reduce on-orbit risk, and enhance situational awareness for governments and private space organizations globally".

It was launched in 2017 and has offices in Texas, California and Colorado.

Seradata is a launch and satellite database that tracks every space launch, and was bought by Slingshot in June 2022.

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.