For the fortunate few who have ventured into space and gazed back at Earth, the vision of individual countries as one single planet has been a humbling experience – so its perhaps no surprise that Scotland's space sector shares a similar humanitarian outlook with its mission to shape a better world, explains Andrew Collier
It must have been the unlikeliest of Scottish pub conversations: a meeting over a drink between a space systems engineer and a human rights and media specialist.
But it was, almost literally, electric. Ideas flew, further discussions were arranged – and the outcome was a new Glasgow-based space company with a mission to make a real global impact on societies and the environment.