Ex-spaceport boss calls out sexism in sector

Melissa Quinn believes the space sector would benefit from greater diversity

The departing boss of the UK's first spaceport has spoken out against alleged sexist behaviour in the "male-dominated" space sector.

Melissa Quinn is leaving her role as the head of Spaceport Cornwall.

In January she oversaw the first satellite launch from UK soil, which ended in failure when the Virgin Orbit rocket suffered an "anomaly".

Ms Quinn said she was "left to my own devices" to deal with online and in-person negativity after the launch.

Melissa Quinn was the Head of Spaceport Cornwall for the first UK space launch earlier this year

Ms Quinn said: "It is a very male-dominated industry, you may not be part of the conversations that you would be if you were a man. I could write a book about some of the ridiculous stuff that has been said to me and maybe I will one day.

"A lot of the times I was the only woman in the room and I was quite a lot younger than a lot of my male counterparts who are massively experienced but I think we need different ways of thinking."

• Listen: Melissa Quinn on bias in the space industry

Ms Quinn said she was able to come up with solutions to problems her male counterparts "would just never have come up with".

She said: "For me I think there is a huge opportunity for the space industry to start to open their doors and be more diverse, because then you can start to solve some of these global challenges by having a different mindset.

"It has been important to me that I didn't just sit back and be quiet - that I added to the conversation. But also that I held them to account when they were blatantly being quite sexist."

She said she would often confront the behaviour and "call it out - unless we do that they continue to get away with it".

Ms Quinn said she had a difficult time following the failed Virgin launch.

She said: "A lot of people wanted to point fingers, and it is easy to point the finger at the person who was running it.

"But I feel that unfortunately these days with social media things can spread like wildfire very quickly, can be very personal and they are kind of left unchecked.

"At the end of the day there is a human at the end of everything and it hurts, of course it hurts. It got to the point where I just thought for my own family and for me it was time I took a bit of time out of that spotlight."

As the head of Spaceport Cornwall she was an employee of Cornwall Council, and the authority has been contacted for a comment on the alleged lack of support.

The satellite launcher failed because a rocket fuel filter had become dislodged, causing one of the engines to overheat, said Virgin Orbit

Ms Quinn said: "I don't think they ever experienced maybe an employee having that level of exposure before that wasn't one of their politicians.

"So for me it just got to the point where I was just trying to do a really good job, I believed in it and I guess I feel like I didn't need that in my life."

She said people would approach her when she was at the beach, or dropping her children at school, with their opinions on the spaceport project.

"Maybe just think twice about it because I think we all need a little bit more kindness in our lives," she said.

Ms Quinn said the decision to leave the spaceport after nine years was a personal one.

She said: "I am not a politician, I was delivering a job on behalf of Cornwall Council, and from time to time that got ugly, and I just felt like I didn't have a lot of support to maintain my own level of security and safety for my family as well.

"So for me it was more of a personal decision to sort of maybe slightly step out of the limelight here in Cornwall."

Last week it was announced she had been appointed as general manager of US based space data and tracking company Slingshot Seradata.

Slingshot Seradata is a launch and satellite database which tracks every space launch and has offices in Texas, California and Colorado.

In April Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy, and there has been some doubt cast over the Newquay spaceport's future.

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.

Ms Quinn said: "There has been a lot out there from people saying 'it's a sinking ship - she is jumping before it goes down', but it couldn't be further from the truth."

She said she decided before the launch she would look for new opportunities afterwards.

"I don't think people realise when we see SpaceX launching all the time and so we are a hit nonchalant about it these days, but it is all-encompassing and it basically takes over your whole life and your whole family's life.

"The decision was already made in my head that I really wanted to try something else and give myself a little bit of a life back."

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