Space Industry in the Isle of Man

"THE space industry is a sector that until the 21st century would not have been associated with the Isle of Man.

But things have certainly changed in a big way during the past decade.

Tim Craine, Director of the Business Development Agency for the Isle of Man Government, admits the talk of the Island being associated with space commerce would have been "science fiction" just a few years ago.

But the truth is stranger than fiction - and can be far more interesting.

Mr Craine gave a fascinating presentation to the Junior Chamber of Commerce last night at the Claremount Hotel, Douglas, about the development of the space industry.

There are numerous firms now based here and one of them - Excalibur Almaz - plans to offer trips round the moon and back for space tourists at a cost of $31m.

Recently aerospace market and consultancy analyst firm ASCEND declared the Island the fifth most likely nation to return to the moon.

Meanwhile a report by the Economic Policy Centre said the UK should follow the example of the Isle of Man and the US when it comes to its space industry.

Mr Craine outlined that it was back in 2000 when the Isle of Man Government entered into an agreement with ManSat to file for orbital slots.

And in 2003 it appointed ManSat's chairman and CEO Chris Stott as the Island's honorary respresentative to the space industry.

The following year zero corporate tax was introduced for space activities.

The Isle of Man Government has attracted firms here due to the zero per cent corporate tax, government grants, the Island's political stability, commercially friendly legislation and its state of the art telecommuncations infrastructure.

Over the years the industry has grown and last year the world's five largest satellite operators established the Space Data Association in the Isle of Man.

Between 2005 to 2013 it is estimated the exchequer will benefit £34,944,363 from the space industry while it is estimated that between 2011 to 2013 the private sector income would be £1,194,604,558.

What may surprise some is that despite a number of space commerce firms having a presence in the Island, the industry only employs the equivalent of 16 full time jobs here at the moment.

But the Island's reputation has spread - the Google Lunar X Prize team summit was held here last week with the majority of 22 registered teams from around the world visiting.

The ensuing media coverage was worth - in advertising terms - just under £250,000.

And even the world's second ever space tourist is a resident in the Isle of Man.

So it is fair to say that the Island's rise as a space super power has been truly out of this world."
--http://www.isleofman.com/news/article.aspx?article=29870