NASA astronauts in boost to Isle of Man space industry
The six NASA astronauts who crewed the final mission of the space shuttle Discovery are to visit the Isle of Man next week to coincide with Tynwald Day (the National Day of the Isle of Man).
Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, Eric Boe, Stephen Bowen, Alvin Drew and Steven Lindsey will be on the Island for six days and will host a series of talks at island secondary schools as well as appearing at the Tynwald Day ceremony.
The Island is home to a rapidly growing space industry, with space companies in the Isle of Man having generated nearly £400m over the last three years. The Island has a strategy in place to continue to develop as a key player in the global space industry, which is currently worth about $300bn a year.
The Isle of Man is the headquarters for 12 space firms which are involved in work such as developing space tourism technology and satellite communications. In 2010 industry analyst Ascend named the island as the fifth most likely nation to put the next person on the moon
The Isle of Man offers many financial and regulatory advantages, some generic to any companies working from the Island and some specific advantages for space and satellite communications companies, for example the world's first Zero Tax Rate (0%) for companies working in the space sector.
The advantages of doing space business on the Isle of Man include:-
- a pro-space government
- an established professional infrastructure (which includes many of the world’s leading companies in finance and insurance);
- an established base of space, aerospace and high tech industries;
- zero tax on space and satellite business.
- access to orbital slots; and
- financial incentives and grant aid for businesses which create new jobs on the Island.
If you’d like further information on the benefits the Isle of Man can offer to the space industry, please contact us.
