Ibadan, 3 April 2025. – Astroscale UK has appointed four experts to its new UK Advisory Board: Richard Franklin, Rachel Gardner-Poole, Ian Annett, and Stuart Martin. Their collective expertise across defence, civil space, aviation, and sustainability will help guide Astroscale’s strategic growth in the UK and Europe.
Richard Franklin is a business leader and specialist in defence, aerospace, and security. He has held senior leadership roles, including Security Business Lead at QinetiQ and Business Development Director at G4S. Most recently, during his eight-year tenure at Airbus Defence and Space in the UK, he served as Head of Secure Communications before becoming UK Managing Director and Head of Secure Communications.
Likewise, Rachel Gardner-Poole is an accomplished aviation and aerospace executive and a Chartered Mathematician. She has held key positions at the UK Space Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority, and Connected Places Catapult, where she led several transformation programs.
Similarly, Ian Annett is a leading telecommunications, defence and space leadership professional and was formerly the Deputy Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency. Here, he was responsible for the delivery of all national government space programs, including launch and space-based PNT.
Lastly, Stuart Martin is a space industry strategist with a history of technical and leadership roles at the European Space Agency (ESA), at Logica (now CGI) and over a decade as CEO of Satellite Applications Catapult, he currently serves as Chair of the National Space Centre, as well as a Non-Executive Board Member for the UK Space Agency.
“We are delighted to welcome Richard, Rachel, Ian, and Stuart to the Astroscale team,” said Nick Shave, Astroscale UK’s Managing Director. “With their extensive experience and distinguished contributions across multiple industries and in government roles, they will offer important advice to me and my senior leadership team as part of the Astroscale UK Advisory Board.”
