Day: 20 December 2012

Scotland’s first satellite will be launched from a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket in March 2013.

UKube-1, built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, is now completing final testing at the company’s headquarters before making the journey to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch.

Confirming that agreement had been reached for the Russian rocket to carry UKube-1, Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark, said: “UKube-1 aims to be the first of many nanosatellites produced at Clyde Space, and is a fantastic mission for us to demonstrate our capabilities as a spacecraft mission lead.

“I’m proud of the team here at Clyde Space in achieving such a critical milestone in the mission.”

The UKube-1 nanosatellite has been designed and manufactured by Clyde Space at their high-tech facility at the West of Scotland Science Park.

The satellite is one of the most advanced of its kind and the mission is the pilot for a collaborative, national CubeSat programme bringing together UK industry and academia to fly educational packages, test new technologies and carry out new space research quickly and efficiently.

Payloads in UKube-1 include the first GPS device aimed at measuring plasmaspheric space weather, a camera that will take images of the Earth and test the effect of radiation on space hardware using a new generation of imaging sensor and an experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of using cosmic radiation to improve the security of communications satellites and to flight test lower cost electronic systems.

It will also carry a payload made up of five experiments that UK students and the public can interact with and an outreach programme that also allows school children to interact with the spacecraft.

UKube-1 is a UK Space Agency mission. The mission has been funded jointly by Clyde Space (mission prime) and a number of funding partners including the UK Space Agency, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Technology Strategy Board and there has also been support from Scottish Enterprise.

As well as the platform and payload elements of the mission, UKube-1 is being supported by three UK Ground Stations.

Led by the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory’s Ground Segment in Oxfordshire, these crucial elements will provide the link to the orbiting spacecraft, as well as full planning of the operations.

The supporting ground stations are provided by Dundee and Strathclyde Universities.  The university of Strathclyde groundstation was installed by Clyde Space during an earlier phase of the spacecraft development.

One of Scotland’s fastest-growing private companies, T.O.M., has capped a highly successful year by launching a new venture.

T.O.M., which already specialises in vehicle rental, fleet management, commercial vehicle body manufacture, MOT testing, sales, servicing and repair, has expanded its operation to create TOMbuyanyvan.

In charge of the project is James Rafferty who said providing an opportunity for old and new customers to cash in on unwanted vehicles was a natural extension of the services already offered by T.O.M.

“We aim to be a one stop shop for customers using commercial vehicles, our knowledge and expertise in vans and trucks is second to none,” he said.

Mr Rafferty said TOMbuyanyvan was interested in all makes of van, truck or car and there were no restrictions on age, make or model. Entire fleets and even ‘non-runners’ will be purchased.

He said: “This is an opportunity for people to cash in on unwanted vehicles. On average, any commercial vehicle lying around will depreciate up to 3% of its value per day and many people don’t realise this.

“Many people have vehicles which are off the road either because they are damaged, unreliable or no longer suitable.

They lie around taking up space in yards and driveways when they could be bringing cash in for their owners. TOMbuyanyvan offers an easy and secure means of cashing in your vehicles without any of the common headaches associated with selling”

Mr Rafferty added that if a company wished to sell its entire fleet of aging vehicles and free up capital, T.O.M. would offer to hire new replacements and take responsibility for managing the whole process, saving the customer time and money.

The service is available at the T.O.M. headquarters in Airdrie and at its other sites in Ayr, Aberdeen and Broxburn and, from early next year, at the company’s new site in the Inverness region as well as online at the www.tombuyanyvan.com website.

Mr Rafferty said TOMbuyanyvan differed from competitors who have been criticised for giving one valuation online and a totally different price after the vehicle was inspected.

He said: “We have to inspect the vehicle to make sure that all the information given in the online assessment form is accurate but we don’t want to be severe with inspections, we offer fair values based on the current market. There is no transaction fee and we can collect the vehicle free of charge”

“It’s also a same day valuation, same day completion and same day payment so customers get their money quickly. We want to make the process as simple and hassle-free as possible for anyone looking to sell”

T.O.M., whose main base is in Airdrie, achieved a 41.1% rise in pre-tax profit earlier this year as turnover rose from £27.3million to £38.4m.

Its clients include most Scottish local authorities, the National Health Service and Scottish Water. It has a fleet of more than 5000 vehicles and employs around 350 people.

In September it confirmed it had acquired the commercial vehicle division of John R Weir in a £3m deal allowing it to expand into the north-east through the opening of a depot in Aberdeen.

Another site will be opened in the Inverness area in the spring and further expansion plans are also expected to be announced next year.