Scottish Space Sector Demonstrates Strong Sustainability Appetite but Structural Barriers Remain, Landmark Assessment Finds
- Callala Support Team
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Space Scotland's Environmental Task Force publishes findings of sector-wide maturity assessment covering sustainability, safety, security and resilience.
Edinburgh, June 2026 — Space Scotland's Environmental Task Force (ETF) has published the public findings of the Scottish Space Sector Sustainability, Safety, Security and Resilience Assessment, carried out by Callala Ltd and supported through the UK Space Agency's Devolved Administration Fund.
The report marks the conclusion of a structured programme of evidence-gathering across Scotland's space ecosystem and represents the most comprehensive picture of the sector's sustainability maturity to date.
The assessment mapped close to 200 organisations with a significant presence in Scotland, spanning spacecraft fabrication, space operations, earth observation, and space-serving activities across the economy. Of the 92 survey respondents drawn from that population, over 80% view sustainability as a core business value rather than a compliance burden. This represents a striking finding that points to a sector ready to act.
Key findings
The report identifies a clear gap between knowledge and action. Organisations understand what better practice looks like, but the governance frameworks, funding mechanisms, and disclosure infrastructure needed to act at scale are not yet in place. The assessment frames this as a coordination problem, and one that Space Scotland's ETF is well-positioned to help resolve.
Among the specific findings:
No respondents viewed sustainability primarily as a compliance burden; 80% view sustainability as a core business value, whilst 45% described it as necessary to protect the long-term conditions that allow the sector to operate.
Space safety ranked first as a personal priority among respondents, with sustainability second. When asked what Space Scotland itself should prioritise, those positions inverted. This reflects a view that sustainability of the orbital environment requires the kind of collective stewardship a body like Space Scotland can provide.
Over 70% of respondents were unfamiliar with either the 2022 or 2025 versions of the Space Scotland Space Sustainability Roadmap. An unexpected finding the report describes as stronger than the headline figure suggests, given that the survey skewed toward core-space organisations most likely to be engaged.
The dominant barrier to progress is economic alignment. High-value interventions such as debris mitigation, space traffic management, and in-orbit servicing generate collective benefit but impose costs on individual operators. This situation requires anchor customers in government and defence, alongside procurement and grant reform.
Recommendations and next steps
The assessment produced 16 evidenced recommendations organised into three modes of action: acting directly on governance and communications tasks within the ETF's existing mandate; building toward longer-term goals including a harms assessment framework and space-specific sustainability guidance; and advocating for regulatory, procurement, and investment reforms that require government and industry to move.
A central recommendation is to expand the Space Scotland Space Sustainability Roadmap to bring safety, security, and resilience in as co-present elements alongside sustainability, making the causal connections between them explicit and extending the Roadmap's relevance across the full breadth of the Scottish space ecosystem.
Public disclosure is identified as the most accessible near-term mechanism for raising standards across the sector, with voluntary, contract-led, and mandatory routes, including through the emerging UK Sustainability Reporting Standard (UKSRS), described as complementary and appropriate for a sector characterised by many SMEs at different stages of readiness.
Andrew Iwanoczko, author of the report and founder of Callala Ltd, said: "The sector is more ready than ever to take positive steps toward building a resilient space environment. The appetite is there. What's needed now is the structural support to turn that appetite into consistent action. Space Scotland is a key UK-based organisation to build it."
About Space Scotland's Environmental Task Force
The Environmental Task Force is a working group of Space Scotland focused on advancing sustainability, safety, security, and resilience across Scotland's space sector. Details of how to get involved can be found at https://spacescotland.org/environmental-task-force/.
About Callala Ltd
Callala Ltd is a specialist innovation consultancy applying the SustainabilityOf.Space Space Leaderboard methodology to assess and advance sustainability performance across the space sector.
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*Graphic Design: Victoria Beall
Notes to Editors:
The Space Leaderboard is a comprehensive global methodology assessing space sector sustainability
This project supports Scotland's Space Sustainability Roadmap and UK space standards development
All company engagements were conducted under strict confidentiality with anonymised reporting protocols
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