Head of Spaceport Cornwall, Melissa Quinn, announces departure from role

Melissa Quinn, the Head of Spaceport Cornwall, has announced her departure from the organisation at the end of this month.

Melissa has been part of the Spaceport team since its inception in 2014, providing support for the UK Space Agency bid and taking on the head role in January 2021.

Spaceport Cornwall is a consortium of partners working together to develop the UK’s first satellite launch station: Cornwall Council (which owns Cornwall Airport Newquay and Spaceport Cornwall), Virgin Orbit, Goonhilly Earth Station and the UK Space Agency.

As an influential figure in the space industry, Melissa has championed Cornwall on a global stage. She has shared her expertise alongside prestigious organisations such as NASA, Space X, and the United Nations, advocating for increased transparency and consideration of the environmental and societal impacts of space launches. 

Melissa said: “This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life, and absolutely no reflection on Spaceport Cornwall, but a personal decision believing it is the right time to move on. 

“It has been a huge challenge, professionally, and personally, to deliver this project, and I am incredibly proud of what my small dedicated team, and I have achieved. Mostly I am proud of our work with local young people, especially girls, inspiring them to get into STEAM careers, as well as challenge the status quo.”

In January 2023, Spaceport Cornwall hosted the first ever satellite launch from UK soil, which ended in failure due to a dislodged fuel filter in the launch rocket. Virgin Orbit, which led the launch, has since filed for bankruptcy.

Despite the satellites not reaching their final orbit, the Spaceport and Cornwall Airport Newquay teams have been credited with successfully executing ground operations, securing the UK’s first spaceport licence.

Recently Spaceport Cornwall has continued its journey in becoming a multi-user space port with the opening of its Space Systems Operations Facility (SSOF) in April. The SSOF is a new space for innovation, the SSOF aims to boost inward investment into the county and drive collaboration between organisations that will fuel the growth of the sector by providing the full service of space capabilities. 

Combined with Spaceport Cornwall’s Space Systems Integration Facility (SSIF), the Space Systems Operation Facility completes the Centre for Space Technologies, a £5.6M project funded by ERDF and Cornwall Council. The two facilities of the CST provide state-of-the-art buildings for businesses to design, develop, launch, track, and use the data from, satellites.The SSOF houses a new clean room that businesses based within the facility can make use of, in addition to having access to the larger clean room in the SSIF. Making Cornwall the only region in the UK where a satellite could be built, integrated, and launched.

Melissa continued: “With the Cabinet approval last week, I am leaving Spaceport Cornwall at the start of an exciting new chapter, and I will be cheering it on from the side lines. I want to say thank you to my team, my family, our partners and to the county of Cornwall for helping to deliver our purpose of Space for Good, and putting Cornwall on the world’s stage. Ad Astra.”

Learn more about Spaceport Cornwall at spaceportcornwall.com