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Cornwall’s manufacturing companies are benefitting from new opportunities in the space and aerospace sectors. The AeroSpace Cornwall Programme is harnessing Cornwall’s big names in these sectors – including Cornwall Airport Newquay, Spaceport Cornwall and Goonhilly Earth Station – to build momentum in one of the largest aerospace
clusters in the world.

AeroSpace Cornwall connects businesses across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with research, development and innovation partners to create new employment opportunities for the region.

AeroSpace Cornwall is helping develop impressive high-tech business clusters, and has been working with forward-thinking companies from the Cornwall Manufacturing Group (such as Hirst Magnetics Instruments Ltd, Flann Microwave, Composite Integration, RAM Gaskets, Logan Electronics and DP Engineering) as well as Bluefruit, Packet Ship and Goonhilly Earth Station.

AeroSpace Cornwall provides:
• Productivity improvement programmes (designed to increase the competitiveness of local businesses and create new supply chain opportunities).
• R&D funding for aerospace and space projects (designed to accelerate product and service development).
• Support for the costs of attending events and trade exhibitions (designed to encourage
engagement with the aerospace and space markets).

One company to have benefitted greatly from what AeroSpace Cornwall offers is Flann Microwave, the market-leading designer and manufacturer of waveguide, antennas, precision microwave components and test and measurement products. Flann Microwave is a relative newcomer to the space sector but demonstrates the type of technical capability
the industry needs, with waveguide hardware which is already space ready. It recently
announced their collaboration with NASA on a major space mission, supplying vital
components for the multinational Surface Water and Ocean Topology (SWOT) satellite.

Flann Microwave partnered with Goonhilly Earth Station and Teddington Systems to secure £148k of R&D project funding from AeroSpace Cornwall awarded September 2018. Angela Harvey, head of operations and finance from Flann Microwave, states:

“AeroSpace Cornwall has been a great support to us in the past six months in many ways, assisting financially to attend events in the USA, UK and Europe as part of Cornwall’s Space Cluster.

“We would absolutely recommend AeroSpace Cornwall’s services. We have already seen huge benefits and are barely getting started.”

Another local manufacturing company that’s been supported by AeroSpace Cornwall is RAM Gaskets. The company manufactures gaskets and seals for various markets including aerospace and defence. They received supply chain competitiveness support from an industry expert, and as a direct result RAM Gaskets received a bronze award from the UK’s Supply Chains for the 21st Century (SC21) programme at the Farnborough International Airshow this year.

AeroSpace industry expert Peter Munro-Lott FRAeS explains:

“AeroSpace Cornwall offers bespoke funding and support to businesses that will equip Cornwall with the required skill set to be at the forefront of the space and aerospace industry in the UK.”

The EU-funded AeroSpace Cornwall programme is led by Cornwall Development Company and delivered in partnership with the West of England AeroSpace Forum (WEAF). Their combined aim is to support and promote business innovation in Cornwall which adds value to the aerospace and space sectors and to encourage investment in research and development.

If you are interested in taking advantage of the unique opportunities which AeroSpace Cornwall offer, visit aerospacecornwall.co.uk for further information.