00:00To boldly go where Wales has never gone before.
00:07After years of planning, the country's first space centre finally had lift-off today
00:12and it's hoped it will allow Wales to be a genuine player in space technology.
00:17NASA needn't worry too much yet.
00:20But while this 1940s airfield doesn't look out of this world,
00:24the Snowdonia Space Centre has high hopes.
00:27This is a huge opportunity for Wales.
00:29So Wales has 5% of the UK's population but 10% of its aerospace industry.
00:33And what we're trying to do is make sure that we're punching at the same weight
00:36in the space industry as well.
00:38And there are huge opportunities for new start-ups in Wales
00:41but also for a new generation.
00:43So we're also very excited about getting Welsh school children
00:47involved in STEM activities related to space.
00:50It's hardly Kennedy Space Centre and don't expect any giant rockets
00:55blasting off from Llambedir any time soon.
00:58But what you can expect to see more typically are things like this.
01:01A high-altitude balloon.
01:03This one's carrying a small test satellite and it's going to launch any second.
01:08Today it'll be rising to about 150,000 feet, roughly halfway to space.
01:14That's high enough to be able to test equipment in conditions representative of space.
01:20And testing will form a crucial part of what they do here,
01:23potentially allowing small companies to get their products to market faster.
01:29But it'll also be home to educational facilities,
01:32hopefully inspiring budding young scientists.
01:35The launch of the Space Centre here today will be a massive opportunity for new engineers
01:41kind of growing up and learning about what rocketry can do,
01:44the aerospace sector, drones,
01:46kind of lots of different applications that you can do on this site.
01:49So we're a while off, it seems, from sending up Welsh astronauts.
01:53Yeah, the UK has three astronauts at the moment
01:56and that will continue to kind of be a process in future
01:59where more astronauts will come forward.
02:01I'm very much hoping we'll see a Welsh astronaut soon.
02:04Until that day, though, there are plenty of other ways
02:07Wales can be doing its bit.
02:09Where we're seeing a big amount of growth at the moment
02:11is the downstream applications of space data.
02:14So how you can use satellite technology to help with communications
02:17in areas maybe where that's not quite as good across Wales
02:20and where it can help with Earth observation imagery
02:23for monitoring things like flood risk, like invasive species
02:27and really help with the environment.
02:29It's just a start, but Wales is now, perhaps,
02:33one small step closer to the final frontier.
02:36The final frontier.
02:37The final frontier.
02:41The final frontier.
02:42The final frontier.
02:43The final frontier.
02:44The final frontier.
02:45The final frontier.
02:46The final frontier.
02:47The final frontier.
02:48The final frontier.
02:49The final frontier.
02:50The final frontier.
02:51The final frontier.
02:52The final frontier.
02:53The final frontier.
02:54The final frontier.
02:55The final frontier.
02:56The final frontier.
02:57The final frontier.
02:58The final frontier.
02:59The final frontier.
03:00The final frontier.
03:01The final frontier.
03:02The final frontier.
03:03The final frontier.
03:04The final frontier.
03:05The final frontier.
03:06The final frontier.
03:07The final frontier.
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