Space West Spotlight - Simon Agass
Welcome to Space West Spotlight, a series celebrating the people, research and businesses that make up the Space West community.
Through this series we'll profile the individuals driving innovation, the pioneering research shaping the future and the local businesses powering growth across our region.
This edition, we're shining the spotlight on Simon Agass, founder and director of AIION Aerospace and a key member of our Space West steering board.
Leadership Journey
Where did you start your journey in the space sector?
My introduction to space came in my first term at Aberystwyth University, studying Physical Geography, when Professor Richard Lucas introduced me to Earth Observation and remote sensing, and I realised I could build a career around my two favourite subjects: geography and space. I went on to complete an MSc in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems.
Building on that MSc, I've spent the years since applying advanced data analytics and spatial technologies across the space sector, working to bridge the gap between acquiring data and turning it into actionable information for people facing real-world challenges.
What is your current role?
I'm the founder and director of AIION Aerospace, a Bristol-based boutique consultancy and R&D company that helps public and private sector organisations work with, understand, and apply space technologies to their challenges. I also serve on several industry and scientific advisory boards, supporting strategy and industrial innovation.
What does your organisation do?
Aiion Aerospace works across Remote Sensing, Advanced Data Analytics, Data Acquisition, Modelling and Simulation, and Platform Development, with specialisms in Earth Observation (EO), Space Domain Awareness (SDA), Geospatial Infrastructure, and Space and Geospatial industry consultancy.
What inspired you to take this position?
Starting my own business has been an ambition of mine for a long time. Over the last 25 years of my career, the same questions have kept coming up: how do we make better use of data from space, how do we get it into the hands of the people who need it at machine speed, and how do we assure data from space in a world with an ever-growing reliance on space infrastructure? Building my own business means I can make sure that every day, we're working towards answering those questions.
Impact
What are your top priorities?
Right now, my top priority is growing a forward-thinking, sustainable business. The space industry has been one of the UK's strongest performers for many years, it inspires technologies used well beyond the sector itself and plays a key role in skills development and educating the next generation of engineers and scientists. A big part of my focus has been communicating the benefits space brings, not just within the UK but in how space can build relationships and networks between the UK and other countries. Inspiration drives innovation.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing?
As a small, specialist player, the challenge is proving credibility fast enough to sit alongside, or inside, the supply chains of much larger primes. Building teams and collaborative relationships with other companies is important here; working with others gives us access to larger pieces of work through a more flexible capacity model.
How are you supporting growth, skills and innovation?
From my time at the Satellite Applications Catapult and the UK Space Agency, I learned that innovation is a contact sport. As important as it is to dedicate time to growing a successful business, part of that time needs to go into outreach, whether that's supporting the local Space Cluster, working with trade associations, or partnering with academic institutions. The best ideas come when people work together.
Personal Perspective
What leadership lesson has stayed with you?
Adaptability can make the difference. Things rarely work out exactly as planned, but the ability to adapt, innovate, and embrace the situation as you find it is what helps you keep the momentum you need to succeed.
What advice would you give to emerging leaders?
Embrace curiosity. Surround yourself with people who think about how something can work, rather than the reasons why it won't. Always push the boundaries of your knowledge, you're only ever one step away from knowing a little more, and that one step might make the difference.