Melissa Quinn has announced that she will be leaving her position as head of Spaceport Cornwall later this month.
Quinn joined the Spaceport team in its early stages, providing support for the UK Space Agency bid and took the head role in January 2021.
Under her leadership, the team achieved a historic milestone with the first-ever UK launch in January. Despite the satellites not reaching their final orbit, the Spaceport and Cornwall Airport Newquay teams flawlessly executed ground operations, securing the UK’s first spaceport license.
Prior to her role as head of Spaceport Cornwall, Quinn played a key role in the success of Cornwall Council’s Aerohub project, securing Enterprise Zone status and providing support to multiple aerospace businesses across Cornwall.
She said: “This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life, and absolutely no reflection on Spaceport Cornwall, but a personal decision believing it is the right time to move on.
It has been a huge challenge, professionally, and personally, to deliver this project, and I am incredibly proud of what my small dedicated team, and I have achieved. Mostly I am proud of our work with local young people, especially girls, inspiring them to get into STEAM careers, as well as challenge the status quo.
“I want to say thank you to my team, my family, our partners and to the county of Cornwall for helping to deliver our purpose of Space for Good and putting Cornwall on the world’s stage. Ad Astra.”
While Quinn will be leaving her current role, she remains committed to the space industry and will be announcing a new position in the coming weeks, further contributing to the advancement of space exploration.
