About Us
Growbotics was founded in 2022 after recognising a strong market need and opportunity to reduce waste in orbit. We have worked with organisations both within the UK and internationally that are pushing the space industry forwards with cutting edge technology and ideas.
Find out more about our team and projects on this page.
Our Founder
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Managing Director
Portia is a space systems engineer turned strategist, with over 10 years of experience across the space industry. She holds a Master’s in Space Engineering and has worked at organisations including D-Orbit, MDA, and Thales Alenia Space—building expertise in everything from spacecraft design and test campaigns to business development and market strategy.
She is a recognised expert in In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM). She led the creation of a new ISAM business line at D-Orbit, developing the service offering, business models, route to market and securing ESA funding for the first mission development. Through her consultancy Growbotics, she has led national-level research into ISAM capabilities, coordinating UK industry on behalf of the UKSpace trade body and developing a common ISAM capabilities taxonomy.
Portia has engineering experience across all phases of spacecraft system design, including multiple feasibility studies and leading the test campaign for the BBR instrument on ESA’s EarthCARE mission.
Beyond her technical and commercial expertise, Portia is committed to inclusive talent development and sustainable growth in the sector. She is the founder of SpaceCareers.uk, the UK’s leading space careers platform, for which she was awarded a Points of Light Award by the UK Prime Minister. She has delivered a TEDx talk titled “Why Space is Important for Life on Earth” and is a regular speaker at industry events and conferences, known for bringing clarity, challenge, and a systems view to complex topics.
Portia is passionate about sustainability, unapologetically entrepreneurial, and full of ambitious ideas. She’s known for asking the difficult questions and helping organisations move beyond the status quo to design bold, sustainable futures in space.
Portia leads projects directly, but she’s supported by a small, talented team and a trusted network of independent experts and partner organisations. When a project calls for additional depth—technical, strategic, or regulatory—she brings in the right people to deliver it.
This flexible model allows her to stay closely involved while scaling to meet the needs of complex, cross-disciplinary work. Clients benefit from deep expertise and a team tailored to the challenge at hand.
A selection of our prior work…
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Satellite Repair Kit
We've polluted our oceans with single-use plastics and are doing the same in space with single-use satellites, leading to costly debris. Growbotics aims to change this by helping you to introducing reusable solutions in the space industry and accelerating their market entry.
Most recently, Growbotics developed a gripper in partership with Lodestar on the TARS-IOD programme, funded by the UK Space Agency NSIP grant. -
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ISAM Capabilities
Growbotics has developed an ISAM Capabilities Map for the UK Space Agency and a report assessing the sector’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.
Working with the UKspace IOSM group and stakeholders through surveys, interviews, and workshops, the project was also guided by a steering board of key stakeholders to ensure successful outcomes.
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The LOOP Mission
Growbotics, in partnership with Thales Alenia Space and 3Keel, have developed a mission concept under the ESA Circular Economy mission sttudies. The LOOP mission aims to refurbish a satellite platform in GEO - a platform specifically designed to be repaired.
The team prepared a high-level mission concept and business model, analysed a case-study in how to refurbish a propulsion system, and elaborated circular economy system maps that highlight how to move from today’s linear model towards a long-term circular ecosystem.
