A motorsport company is reaching for the stars after supplying parts for a space satellite.

Banbury-based Prodrive, best known for preparing rally cars for Subaru, made the special lightweight panels which will carry imaging equipment on the satellite which was launched on a rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The satellite is part of the Cibola Flight Experiment and will be used to study lightning and the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Prodrive has deliberately been looking at other areas where it can apply its engineering expertise and is particularly attracting interest from the aerospace industry.

Now it has launched a specialist manufacturing operation to produce components for businesses outside the automotive and motorsport sectors.

Chairman David Richards said: "This is a first for Prodrive and quite possibly any motorsport business.

"However, I believe it will become increasingly common in the future as the skills and manufacturing capabilities we have in the motorsport industry are ideally suited to the demands of aerospace and other hi-tech businesses."

The move comes after Mr Richards last month fronted a consortium to buy iconic car manufacturer Aston Martin, restoring it to British ownership from American giant Ford.