Lydia Green, Head of Unlocking Space Programme and Shuxiu Zhang, Head of Space Application & Data at the UK Space Agency, explain the critical role of the UK space sector in our daily lives
Space is the ‘hidden utility’ underpinning our daily lives and economy, supporting an estimated 16% of UK GDP every year.
We all rely on satellite services, from mobile connectivity, TV and radio broadcasting, and internet access to satellite navigation, climate and disaster monitoring, and weather forecasting. The cost of manufacturing and launching satellites has fallen significantly in recent years, and we have become significantly more advanced at extracting, analysing, and interpreting the data they generate. This has fuelled the high level of interest in space technologies, and the UK is a particularly attractive market for investment in this sector.
Space: Areas of opportunity
Space has the potential to help the world solve some of its greatest challenges, ranging from the impacts of the climate crisis to helping us navigate and create healthcare advances.
Within the energy sector, satellite services play a key role in enabling the improvement of green infrastructure. The UK Space Agency has funded projects to improve the monitoring and servicing of offshore wind farms, increase electric vehicle uptake, support autonomous vehicle development, and analyse oil pollution in marine and coastal environments.
In financial services, satellite imagery improves the measurement of essential climate and nature variables, enabling better alignment of lending, investment and insurance services to ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) objectives and disclosure obligations.
Satellite services have helped create innovative solutions to problems faced by the NHS and the wider health sector. From using SatNav systems to assist the everyday lives of visually impaired people, to using satellite connectivity to transfer images of scans from hard-to-reach places across the planet.
UK space sector strengths
Downstream services are the economic engine of the UK space sector, with annual income from space applications accounting for roughly three-quarters of the sector’s revenue, which stands at a total of £18.9 billion.
The number of space organisations operating in the UK has grown to 1,765. These range from start-ups founded in the UK, such as Oxford Space Systems and SatVu, to international companies choosing the UK for core operations, such as Airbus, Spire, and Viasat.
There are around 52,000 full-time jobs in the sector, an annual increase of 6.7%. These jobs are more than twice as productive as the UK average.
The UK space sector also benefits from the City of London and broader UK competitive advantages in professional services, including legal, insurance, banking, and consulting services.
UK Space Agency support: The Unlocking Space and Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programmes
The UK Space Agency is committed to supporting the development of innovative space applications, as there is enormous potential to improve outcomes for businesses and the general public and support socio-economic growth. However, the space industry as a whole is concentrated and dominated by a few large players, with 20 organisations accounting for 75% of space-related income. The Unlocking Space, and Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programmes aim to address barriers that may be preventing UK small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) from scaling.
Unlocking Space is a national programme, focused on championing the benefits of space to new groups of investors, businesses and public bodies. Two of their main functions are Investment and Business. Projects range from work with financial services companies on satellite data trials, to the launch of a dedicated £8 million investment fund. Through this work, the UK Space Agency has already provided funding for 12 Contracts for Innovation to companies using satellite data and AI to deliver benefits in critical technologies. It is making £3.5 million of research and development funding available to pilot the innovative use of satellite data and applications for the financial services and transport sector.
Ultimately, we want to simulate the demand for space services and equip companies with new skills to help raise private capital and move to the next stage of growth.
BASS is a joint programme between ESA and participating member states, of which the UK is the largest funder, recognising the critical role that space-powered applications play in the economic landscape. Since 2017, the UK has funded 255 projects with £8.1 million in sectors as wide-ranging as healthcare, aviation, agricultural technology, transport, financial technology, autonomous vehicles, energy, and infrastructure. This investment makes it one of Europe’s most significant contributors, recognising the critical role that space applications play in the economic landscape. 74% of these companies are SMEs, with the majority being outside of the space sector, demonstrating the broad reach space applications have in our everyday lives.
By catalysing investment, increasing involvement in major space missions, supporting the development of innovative space applications and championing the power of space to improve lives, the work of the UK Space Agency is accelerating the growth of the UK’s thriving space sector and kickstarting growth in the wider economy.
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