Space CASCADE & Network

Join us for our monthly Space CASCADE & Network session, bringing together organisations across the North East’s growing space ecosystem to share updates, explore emerging opportunities, and strengthen regional collaboration.

This month’s session will take place in person at the Space Enterprise Lab, NETPark. Our theme for May focuses on Resilient Communications, one of the most important and strategically valuable capabilities for the UK’s future space infrastructure.

Session Highlights

We will welcome several North East–based companies who will present current local projects in the resilient communications space. These sessions will highlight the region’s real‑world innovation and its alignment with wider national needs.

Professor James Osborn from Durham University will share an overview of the university’s cutting‑edge work in optical communications, including developments in free‑space optical links, photonics, and precision optics. He will also explore how this work complements other regional capabilities and the opportunities this creates for new mission concepts and commercial pathways.

Following the presentations, we will open a group discussion on how the North East can collectively strengthen its resilient communications capability, identify opportunities for deeper collaboration, and consider what a future regional collaborative project could look like. This will help the working group begin to shape a shared vision and establish potential next steps for joint innovation.