I was delighted to be invited to share the evening with, among others, a bona fide NASA astronaut and the dean of the International Space University.

Since its inception in April 2006, the Isle of Man Space Group has had a great deal of success in establishing the Island's reputation as a premier offshore commercial space industry.

This informal group comprises representatives from both government and the private sector and meets three times a year. Inmarsat, Boeing, Sea Launch, Loral and SES Satellite Leasing have already established Isle of Man operations and the group expects several important announcements about the industry's expansion in 2008.

Last week's dinner was almost purely social. It took place in the Wedding Cake building in Douglas and visitors were treated to a tour of Tynwald, The House of Keys and the Legislative Council.

Thanks to my significant other, I have met and socialised with people in the space industry for the best part of 20 years and have met my fair share of actual rocket scientists in that time. But at this event I finally got to meet my first astronaut.

Dr Leroy Chiao joined NASA in 1990, became an astronaut a year later and has gone on to hold the record as the most travelled spaceman in NASA's history. He is a veteran of four space flights and has logged a total of 229 days, 7 hours, 38 minutes and 5 seconds in space — including 36 hours and 7 minutes spent on space walks.

So flying in from Beijing to the Isle of Man, via Houston, for the Space Industry Group meeting must have been a breeze for Dr Chiao.

He was invited to attend by Chris Stott, the Isle of Man's space ambassador and the newly appointed chairman of Manx company Mansat. The two men became friends several years ago when Chris' wife, also a NASA astronaut, worked with Dr Chiao at the Space Centre in Houston, Texas.

Dr Chiao said: 'I knew a lot about the Isle of Man before I arrived.

It's just as beautiful as it looked from space. And just as rainy too.

When I was on the International Space Station, I noticed that every time we went over the Isle of Man it was covered in clouds.'

He presented photographs of the Island he took on board the International Space Station to Isle of Man Minister to the group's current chairman Alex Downie and to its previous chairman, Minister for Health and Social Security Eddie Teare.

Another important visitor to the dinner was Dr Walter Peeters — dean and professor in space and business management at the International Space University. He is also a director of the International Institute of Space Commerce which is being established at the International Business School in Douglas.

The decision to locate the IISC in the Isle of Man followed the first-ever board meeting of ISU trustees outside their Strasbourg base for more than a decade. This took place here in the Island in September 2006.

Dr Peeters said earlier in the year: 'We created the IISC to focus on the business of space and the policy and regulatory issues facing it.

This burgeoning market sector requires in-depth study if we are to find proactive solutions to the new issues that are arising, and the IISC is the centre of this research.

Speaking at the dinner Chris Stott said the range of space professionals present proved just how far the Island's industry has come.

'We've attracted some of the world's most successful space companies along with several niche players to our shores,' he said. 'Here they find the perfect combination of a pro-space government, an established and experienced professional infrastructure and one of the world's largest international finance centres.'

I can't help but agree with Chris. It seems that the Isle of Man will indeed 'boldly go' (excuse the grammar, but William Shatner is the one who split the infinitive) where no other space isle has gone before!


>>Sherrilynne Starkie is the managing partner of Strive Public Relations, a communications consultancy in the Isle of Man. She provides her views on business and technology each week in Tech Talk. Visit her business blog Strive Notes for frequent updates.
www.strivepr.com