Six sites,
one of them
quite windy
Everything we sell is built, tested or operated in the United Kingdom. The map below is not a marketing exercise; it is where the machines are.
Filton, Bristol
Design offices, the two integration halls and the company's only decent coffee machine. Around 640 people, including most of the analysis and configuration teams. Ridgeway Park sits ten minutes from the M5 and about the same from Bristol Airport traffic permitting, which it does not.
| Floor area | 11,400 m² |
|---|---|
| Clean rooms | 2 × ISO 8 (180 m² and 240 m²), 1 × ISO 7 bay |
| Lifting | 5 t overhead travelling crane, 12 m hook height |
| Environmental test | 160 kN electrodynamic shaker, 2.4 m thermal vacuum chamber, 3 m semi-anechoic EMC chamber |
Westcott, Buckinghamshire
Three hot-fire bays on a 4.6 hectare site with its own propellant storage and a blast berm that predates us by several decades. Bay 3 reopened in June 2026 after a rebuild that took the maximum thrust from 30 kN to 60 kN.
| Bay 1 | Monopropellant and cold gas, to 500 N, vacuum capable |
|---|---|
| Bay 2 | Bipropellant to 12 kN, altitude simulation to 22 km equivalent |
| Bay 3 | Bipropellant to 60 kN, 400 s continuous, 2 kHz data on 96 channels |
| Propellants | LOX, RP-1, high-test peroxide, ADN blends, gaseous nitrogen and helium |
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Twenty-two machine tools, a wire EDM, two laser powder-bed machines and a hot isostatic press we share with a neighbour. Runs two shifts, and a third when a launch date moves left.
| Five-axis cells | 5, largest envelope 1,600 × 900 × 800 mm |
|---|---|
| Additive | 2 × laser powder bed, AlSi10Mg, Ti-6Al-4V, CuCrZr |
| Inspection | 2 CMMs, structured-light scanning, industrial CT to 450 kV |
| Approvals | NADCAP heat treatment and NDT on site |
Portishead, Somerset
Electronics design, the hardware-in-the-loop racks and the software team. A converted marine electronics building with an excellent view and famously variable parking.
| HIL benches | 11, running flight-representative hardware |
|---|---|
| ESD control | Whole floor to IEC 61340-5-1 |
| Environmental | Thermal cycling chambers −70 to +180 °C, 1.1 m vacuum chamber |
| Rework | IPC-7711 Class 3 certified operators, X-ray inspection of BGA |
Farnborough, Hampshire
Sixty-one people, a List X facility and a qualification laboratory that also takes third-party work when the schedule allows. Closest to most of our defence customers, which matters more than we expected.
| Status | List X, segregated network and document control |
|---|---|
| Test | Vibration to 60 kN, altitude and humidity, salt fog, sand and dust |
| EMC | MIL-STD-461G capable, 10 m chamber via partner site |
| Clearances | 94 SC, 11 DV |
Machrihanish, Argyll and Bute
Two dishes on the Kintyre peninsula, chosen for the horizon mask and the absence of neighbours to interfere with. Staffed by four people and visited by everyone else exactly once, in summer.
| Antennas | 2 × 6.1 m, S-band and X-band, full motion |
|---|---|
| G/T | 27.4 dB/K at X-band, 10° elevation |
| Passes | Up to 42 per day, scheduled automatically |
| Backhaul | Dual-path fibre, 1 Gbit/s, diverse routing to Glasgow |
Our chambers take
other people's hardware
When the schedule allows, we sell time on the shaker, the thermal vacuum chambers and the EMC chamber, with or without our own test engineers. Rates are published and there is no minimum booking beyond a shift.
| Vibration | 160 kN electrodynamic, 5–2,000 Hz, 1.5 m × 1.5 m head expander |
|---|---|
| Thermal vacuum | 2.4 m × 3.1 m chamber, 10⁻⁶ mbar, −95 to +125 °C shrouds |
| EMC | Semi-anechoic, 3 m, radiated and conducted emissions and immunity |
| Mass properties | CoG and inertia to 400 kg, ±0.5 mm |
| Shock | Pyroshock table to 4,000 g SRS |
| Lead time | Typically 3–5 weeks, faster if you can work nights |
We do site visits properly
or not at all
Half a day, with the engineers who run the equipment. Safety induction on arrival and no photography in the integration halls.