A £14.7 million investment in a Glasgow-based satellite company will help to create more than 260 jobs in Scotland’s rapidly growing space sector.

On a recent visit to Spire Global, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that the company has received one of the largest funding packages ever provided by Scottish Enterprise.

Spire Global builds, tests and operates nano-satellites that track aviation, maritime and weather patterns.

The investment will enable it to relocate to 40,000ft2 premises at Glasgow’s Skypark facility, as it looks to increase its workforce from 60 to 320 over the next five years.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Our space sector is already punching above its weight, with almost one fifth of all UK jobs in this industry based north of the border and Scotland producing more small satellites than any other country in Europe.

This £14.7 million investment will help Spire Global to develop its infrastructure and technologies, which in turn will create dozens of high-tech and highly skilled jobs and training opportunities.”

Spire Global CEO Peter Platzer said: “We will continue to grow our workforce in Glasgow, along with our global product offering, to help all industries — as well as governments — tackle ever more frequent and extreme weather events in this era of climate change.

“We are excited to substantially expand our presence here and look forward to the continuation of strong partnerships within Scotland, the UK Space Agency, and the wider UK space ecosystems.”