Saffron Price-Finnerty has completed a one year assignment as Deputy Head of Space Regulation at the DSIT. Here she talks to Grant Powell MBCS about her work.
Saffron Price-Finnerty recently took an assignment which saw her leave her management position with the Environment Agency to work on reforming space regulation for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Here she talks about the power of regulation and policy in cementing relations with global stakeholders when it comes to space initiatives, the importance of space based sustainability, and her appointment with royalty.
Can you provide some career background?
I've worked in the nuclear sector for 26 years now. When I was growing up I remember watching Blue Peter and learning all about ozone layer depletion as a result of humankind’s actions. I decided at that young age that I wanted to save the ozone layer! At school and college I developed a keen interest in science and decided to take a chemistry degree at university, which included aspects of environmental chemistry within the course. After that I decided to carry on learning and wanted to focus more on the environmental side. I did an MSc in environmental analysis and health, and started looking for graduate jobs, which was a tricky process back when one was limited to browsing leaflets at the local careers advice centre. I applied for three chemistry related positions and after a successful interview I gained a position at Sellafield, based in the Lake District. My roles included writing safety assessments and developing environmental assessments, and then I became an environment manager for waste and decommissioning plants, gaining knowledge and experience of how regulation impacts nuclear sites and facilities. After 10 years I applied to the Environment Agency to become a regulator, and I've now been in regulation for 16 years. And then came an opportunity to work ‘in space’.
How did the opportunity to take this assignment come about?
I wanted to experience a government facing role because I've always worked on the operational side and never been directly involved in policy at government level. I'm a mentor for the UK government backed Women in Nuclear UK’s (WiN) UK/France scheme. I am also a member and ambassador of WiN UK which has 30 international chapters under the umbrella of Women in Nuclear Global. So I started getting more and more involved in these initatives, and eventually mentioned to a colleague that I would really like to become more involved at a deeper level, with an assignment. He put me in touch with DSIT who had a vacancy for a space regulatory reform lead. I was exceptionally lucky and really pleased that my employer supported me. The culture in space was brilliant. It was so inclusive. It was so welcoming. And actually, the deputy directors had come from the nuclear industry too.
Can you provide an example of critical operations that are carried out in space?
Much of the life that we know would come to a standstill and cost the economy billions without the work that we do in space. The design, build, launch and maintenance of satellites, for example, are critical for our GPS systems, and for internet connectivity across the globe. And when it comes to banking, you can't even take cash out of a cash point if the satellites go down because of the timing synchronisation in your bank machine. So space is not just exploration, space is this whole infrastructure that keeps everything working and moving forward. And obviously there is the potential to run some really groundbreaking projects outside of our planet. For instance, there's a project currently looking at space based solar power — so getting our energy directly from the sun — and essentially beaming it back to earth on big receivers. The hope is that this will become a very valid way to meet future energy needs, so that’s very exciting at the moment.
How important is the regulation of such activities?
The space directorate is leading the space regulatory reform for the UK government, ensuring that the UK continues to offer an agile, attractive and competitive regulatory environment for space. This provides incentives for innovation, both in the UK and from partners and collaborators across the globe. It also helps with the monitoring and maintaining of sustainable and ethical practices.
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Talking and collaborating with representatives from industry and from academia is a vitally important part of this. A dynamic regulatory environment acts as an enabler for developing detailed guidance, for example, for lunar missions, to provide clarity and ensure successful deployment. Regulation needs to be flexible and clear for the future. A lot of companies, particularly new startups, need clarity to give them confidence to be able to invest in the UK, because they're doing things like rendezvous and proximity operations — basically assessing the potential for carrying out various operations, such as manufacturing, in space.
Can you tell us about the global space symposium and its purpose?
In the nuclear industry there is a lot of problem solving work around what to do with the waste of the past, and this is similar in space due to the sustainability considerations relating to the amount of junk that is now in orbit. There is considerable work in looking at how to sustainably manage our work in space both now and in the future. King Charles is really keen on this, so one of my projects was to work as part of a team to organise a global space symposium here in the UK. This was a call to action to all of the people with influence globally to change the way that we conduct off-world activities. At the symposium, the King revealed what he calls The Astra Carta, with the aim of bringing together the private sector in creating and accelerating sustainable practices across the global space industry. Guests included Major Tim Peake, Dr Meganne Christian, Rosemary Coogan, John McFall (a former GB paralympian), and astrophysicist Sir Brian May. It really was fascinating, coming at this from the regulatory and governance side, but then actually getting to meet royalty, space experts, luminaries from academia and leaders from industry.
What careers advice do you have for others that are interested in a space related role and how might someone follow in your footsteps?
I think it's an absolutely fascinating industry. It's a growing industry. Our whole lives depend on space, so it's a really exciting, innovative career to get into. My careers advice would be that you don't necessarily need a technical or science related degree because you can work in government, or in a policy type role, for example, so you don't have to be an engineer, or even technically minded, such is the number and variety of roles available. There are degree apprenticeship routes in, so that’s one avenue, and some of the colleagues that I worked with were part of a fast-track civil service scheme, so there are multiple avenues to consider depending on your expertise and where your interests lie. Through my own experience I’ve realised that it’s important not to be daunted by a space related career because there are so many transferable skills from other industries. And because ‘space’ work now encompasses manufacturing, regulatory, finance, insurance, academia and research, there really is something for everyone. And then if you're really, really keen you could be an astronaut as well.
