Daniel Smith, founder of AstroAgency and the Scottish Government’s first Trade & Investment Envoy for Space, recently participated in a Q&A discussing his journey into the space sector, the importance of sustainability, and the company’s strategic expansion into the United States. Smith, who has played a founding role in several space companies since 2017, highlighted how AstroAgency differentiates itself by combining strategic communications with market intelligence, led by a team with prior space industry experience.
Smith emphasized the growing relevance of the commercial space sector, noting that it now underpins daily activities such as communications, navigation, and climate monitoring. He pointed out that two-thirds of global environmental monitoring data comes from satellites, making space a critical enabler for sustainability efforts. AstroAgency has been involved in developing Scotland’s space sustainability roadmap, a first-of-its-kind national strategy, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth, the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Enterprise, and the European Space Agency.
Discussing recent milestones, Smith cited the company’s work with the UK Space Agency on the active debris removal mission led by ClearSpace and Astroscale, as well as educational outreach at events like Blue Dot Festival and New Scientist Live. He also mentioned writing regional space strategies, such as the one for Space East in East Anglia.
On the company’s US expansion, Smith noted partnerships with Voyager Technologies, OrbitFab, NovaSpace, Terrametric, AlphaData, and Astraius. AstroAgency plans to open a North American office at VISTA, Voyager’s science park initiative in Columbus, Ohio, which is the nation’s first science park dedicated to in-space research and innovation at The Ohio State University. This move aims to support US firms in commercializing their offerings and expanding overseas.
Smith also addressed untapped opportunities in the space sector, particularly the application of satellite data to solve real-world challenges in sectors like agriculture, defense, maritime, and health. He stressed that the main barrier is visibility, not technology, and that effective marketing is crucial for space companies to reach new audiences and drive adoption.
Looking ahead, Smith expects the importance of marketing in the space sector to grow, as even advanced products can be overlooked without visibility. He believes that companies that tell their story effectively while using market intelligence will succeed. AstroAgency’s roadmap includes expanding its team and presence in North America, building on its track record of over 100 projects for clients including Spire, Hydrosat, the UK Space Agency, NASA, and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
