About
To drive the UK’s ambition in growing the space sector, fostering a robust space ecosystem is essential. By leveraging synergies between government, industry, and academia, the UK can advance its strategic interests in space, enhance national security, and unlock significant economic growth. In this session, we will discuss some of the challenges and recent successes from across the sector that are impacting growth in both civil and defence arenas.
Speaker-
Mike O’Callaghan - Head of Future Programmes, Airbus Defence & Space
Mike is a leader within the UK’s Defence and Space community, with experience across a diverse range of roles within both the public and private sector, working across industry and academia, and with national and international Governments and agencies. He is a graduate from the University of Nottingham where he obtained his PhD in Chemistry, and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Mike spent 15 years at Dstl, the research agency of the UK Ministry of Defence, undertaking a range of both corporate and technical leadership roles, leading their Space Systems Programme through a period of significant growth between 2017 and 2023. This supported the development of UK Space Command’s Defence Space Portfolio, as well as delivering R&D for which both him and his programme team won several awards including MOD Chief Scientist, Minister (Defence Procurement) awards, and commendations for International collaboration.
Mike moved to Airbus Defence and Space in early 2023 as Head of Novel Programmes. His role includes leadership and support to Airbus UK defence space strategy and key defence space projects, alongside leading the Airbus Research, Experimentation and Demonstration (RED) Hub – our approach to supporting the UK Defence S&T and R&D ecosystem.