Alan Cox to Retire as Chief Commercial Officer

After 11 years as Chief Commercial Officer at the Satellite Applications Catapult, Alan Cox is to retire at the end of June 2024. Alan leaves behind a highly experienced commercial team with a strong order book and pipeline of opportunities spanning the next 3 years.

Alan was one of the first employees of the Catapult, moving directly from its predecessor, the International Space Innovation Centre. He previously held senior roles at Finmeccanica, GEC Marconi, and BAES.

In announcing his retirement Alan said, “There are three words I would use to describe the Catapult’s early days: intense, collaborative, and inspiring. At the very start we focused on raising awareness of satellite enabled capability to those outside of our sector and on building a strong SME community. It was a time of exploration, experimentation and excitement, we were breaking new ground and working in a way that was pioneering.

“During my time here, I have been involved in some fascinating projects, including lithium mining in South America and Cornwall, monitoring deforestation in the Amazon, monitoring illegal fishing, rural connectivity for remote communities, as well as helping new companies to develop and prosper, and creating ecosystems that will form the bedrock of our future space economy. However, it’s the people at the Catapult that I’ve worked with who made these projects a success that I’m most proud of. Their achievements will live long in my memory.

“The UK Space sector represents a domain where the UK can build a national supply base and create a vibrant economic sector. Helping to create the conditions for this is the core work of the Catapult and there are exciting times ahead.”

John Abbott, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult said, “Alan has been at the centre of our commercial activities for more than a decade. He has been instrumental to the success of so many initiatives which have benefitted the UK space sector including work on large-scale International Partnership Programme projects, the development of the Catapult’s facilities including the creation of the Space Cluster at Westcott, and for building strong partnerships with Government, the space industry and non-space sectors.

“I thank him for the huge effort he has made to drive the Catapult forward and for the legacy he leaves behind.”