THE success of the Isle of Man's space industry is featured in a double page spread in UK national newspaper The Independent today (Tuesday).

The story, headlined the Ascent of Manx, states: "It may seem puzzling to outsiders but this small, self-governing outcrop of rock and lush grass perched between the coasts of Cumbria and County Down has become a major player in the modern space race."

The article, by Jonathan Brown, features comments from Chris Stott of ManSat - the Island's honorary representative to the space community -  Leroy Chiao, director of Isle of Man based space company Excalibur Almaz and Carla Sharpe, a graduate of the International Space University's executive MBA programme who now has her own consultancy.

Photo by John Gregory