Halston Horizon Dark Skies: Your Go To Market Strategy

Breaking into the space sector takes more than a great product. The market is complex, the relationships are long, and the route to revenue isn't always obvious, especially for businesses coming in from adjacent industries or making the case to new customers for the first time.

In this Dark Skies session, we're cutting through the noise on go-to-market strategy for space. From building credibility in a sector that runs on trust, to identifying the right entry points and positioning your offer to the people who actually make decisions — this one is for businesses who are serious about growth, not just exposure.

All that, plus real insight from the people doing it on the ground.

Meet the Speakers

Lisa Mullen, Cluster Manager Space North East England

Lisa leads Space North East England, the cluster bringing together the region's space businesses, universities, and institutions to drive innovation, collaboration, and investment in one of the UK's most active space ecosystems. She's recently led delegations to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre and Commercial Space Week in Florida, taking North East innovators into the heart of global space commerce. Under her leadership, Space North East has caught serious international attention.

Lisa brings a grounded, practical perspective on what it takes to build presence in this sector, and what cluster membership, regional positioning, and the right relationships can do for your go-to-market from day one.

Kelly Instrell - CEO of KI Bid Consulting 

Kelly runs KI Bid Consulting, which she set up in 2025 to help business navigate the often complex world of bidding for space contracts through institutional organisations such as the European Space Agency and MOD. She is the author of "Bidding for ESA Contracts: The Essential Guide", and led the UK Space Agency ESA Proposal Advice Service pilot programme. Earlier this year she delivered a workshop and accompanying Guide on "Demystifying the Funding Landscape for Space in the UK" in collaboration with Space West. Kelly is passionate about helping businesses develop their bidding capabilities, from identifying the most suitable funding opportunities, developing bid strategies, supporting bid creation to organisational development to mature bidding in the longer term. The ESA Bidding Guide and Demystifying Funding Guide can be downloaded here: Opportunities and Resources | NCCUK

Jessica Farrow, Head of Digital Communications & Insight at Halston B2B

Jess leads Digital Communications and Insight at HalstonB2B, working with founders and leadership teams across extremely technical sectors to translate complex capability into a go-to-market story that actually lands with the right buyers. Her remit spans positioning, content, PR, and the market research that sits underneath it, with expert insight into competitor landscapes and your target customer base.

She's worked with space and spacetech businesses at every stage of that journey: early-stage start-ups defining who they are and who they're selling to for the first time, and established companies pivoting into the sector and needing to reposition fast for a very different buyer. That range gives her a sharp instinct for what changes (and what doesn't) when a business moves from "we have good tech" to "we have a market."