Chapter’s name: UK Chapter
Chapter creation date: May 24, 2021
Chapter’s location: Anglesey, North Wales, UK
President’s name: Vicky Duncalf
President contact information: Please use the STS contact form
President since: June 2021
Chapter’s introductory statement:
For 25 years, the Space Tourism Society has been the world’s leading space tourism advocacy organisation. And now it’s here in the UK. Very soon, space tourism won’t just be for millionaires and the rich. We want to bring that playtime closer. Although on the up, the UK space sector is still a mystery to most of the general public. We’ll bridge that gap by promoting the benefits of the commercialisation of space to a starry-eyed new audience.
Through audacious networking meetings, public outreach and accompanying film, the Space Tourism Society UK is on a trajectory to ‘Make Space Mainstream’. To begin with, society membership is only open to space professionals, and will take the form of unique networking events in the epic scenery of North Wales.
Wild networking, stellar deal making
Are you ready for the wildest networking adventures on the planet? Where you can spend quality time with fellow space mavericks and forge stellar deals? As the planet comes back to life after COVID, we’ll start small, with meetings and retreats in the epic adventure playground of North Wales (well worth the journey from anywhere in the UK).
Every meeting will contain an element of outreach, allowing us to connect with the public and private sector. We will spread the word of space tourism, the magic of the Overview Effect, and introduce a wide-eyed public to the incredible opportunities in UK commercial space.
As the society evolves, we’ll spread our wings. Sorties will become ever more adventurous, taking in the world’s top space attractions: international conferences, rocket launches, zero g flights — and one day, the price of suborbital flights may become so affordable that we could officially call ourselves ‘astronauts.’
Latest information/activity:
We’re starting from scratch, so get in early and shape the society. We need the usual positions, like Vice President and Treasurer, but how about a Zero G Entertainment Officer, or Moon Communications Officer? Make up your own far-out role: this is not a society that conforms.
And to amplify our endeavours, we’re making a film in parallel, to chart the historic rise of the UK space sector.
Here’s a sample idea for a future meeting: a three-night stay in deluxe accommodation on the beach-frilled holiday island of Anglesey – very much a remote outpost of UK space. We’ll start at our new HQ, the inspiring Menai Science Park, with monster windows that frame the Snowdonia Mountain Range, carved out by glaciers. The cosmic landscape here is always an inspiration to space dreamers.
Here we could introduce residents of the science park to the benefits of partnering with UK commercial space. To trigger creative thinking, we may take a trip to Anglesey Sea Zoo and marvel at the alien life forms of squid and octopus, or visit a rainbow psychedelic coppermine, with its dreamy Martian landscape. All meetings will be adaptable by the way — space is for everyone.
A Stellar Networking Scenario
Do you find traditional networking a tad hasty? Barely enough time to swap a business card before you’re shaking hands with someone else?
On our exciting day trips and weekend retreats, you will meet and ‘fuse’ with space professionals. You’ll spend much more time together than at standard networking. New business relationships will be forged, and because you’ve spent so long together, with a common experience, these friendships will be enduring and hopefully incredibly fruitful.
Away from screens, phones and offices, the natural environment of North Wales — the adventure playground of Europe — with sea views, beaches, towering mountains and starlit skies, will give your brain a chance to unwind and become inspired.
Do you need to refresh your little black book? Expand your network? Invigorate your thinking? Meet people from different parts of the sector? Meet new friends who love space? Then you definitely need to join the Space Tourism Society.
Are you making a film?
Yes we are, charting the origin story of the society. It’s called Fusion: the Ignition of the Space Tourism Society. Stars are powered by nuclear fusion in their cores, where they convert hydrogen into helium. We aim to fuse the industry together, and forge new connections, as we dream, plan and conspire for the expansion of humanity into the cosmos.
Our president, Vicky Duncalf is a space film maker. She’s realised that nobody is documenting the historic rise of the UK sector on film. Join the society, attend our events, and you may end up in the film.
Want to get involved?
Contact Vicky to ask any questions, and let’s get this rocketship lit. Or visit our media partner http://starfactory.productions/
