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As more and more countries look to grow their space capabilities and global market share, the quest for talent and innovation has become more urgent.In his keynote, Dr Bleddyn Bowen, Associate Professor of Astropolitics, Durham University and Co-Director of the Space Research Centre helped set the political scene.Bowen started off by sharing how Britain’s space industry was at one time on a similar trajectory as France during the early Cold War, focused on nuclear and military ambitions before diverging in the 1960s.“Both countries were using their imperial and colonial territories to test rockets and nuclear bombs, so the imperial and colonial dimensions are very important for understanding Britain’s history in space, and the shape of its position today,” adds Bowen.By the end of the Cold War, the UK became heavily dependent on the US for military and security space architecture and intelligence, with its commercial and industry side heavily integrated with Europe up until till the mid-late 2010s.While Bowen described how the UK may still be caught in a “binary system”, that is in some ways still dependent on the US for military security, intelligence and space capabilities. Today, the picture is a different one, states Bowen.“The UK government is more interested in space than they have ever been before with a conscious era of policy making in the last 10-15 years. Space has become much more institutionalised as an area of policy for security, industry, science and critical infrastructure,” he adds.Bowen cited several ambitious UK policy documents, including the 2024 UK Space Industrial Plan, as well as strategic plans for space expansion in Scotland and Wales, with a distinct focus on science, engineering and technology.

UK’s position in space

“While Britain is not by any measure the biggest power in space, it has a lot of strength and influence. However, so do many other states – the US and China for instance, are in a league of their own. Russia, Japan and India also have significant infrastructure,” adds Bowen.In terms of its position in the global space race, Bowen shared that the UK falls under the US, China, Russia, Japan, France, Italy and Germany when it comes to civil space, satellite communications and Earth observation but noted the UK’s privileged position with the US.Comparing the UK space industry to the rest of Europe, Bowen shared how the UK is developing as a wider space power and is now the fourth largest contributor to ESA.However, uncontrollable external factors will continue to impact the UK’s space industry and its plans for growth, including the US elections, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as other US and EU integration and dependencies.Bowen highlighted the importance of France as a big player in space, with its own launch sector, growing industrial capacity, and increased military space investment, suggesting the UK might learn some growth lessons from it.He continued to cite several opportunities for the UK in space, including extra transatlantic opportunities with South Korea and Japan. As well as the importance of the UK learning lessons from Ukraine on the increasing role of advanced space systems in conflict.

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Uncapped opportunity

During the later sessions, speakers across industry from policy to tech, finance, recruitment and academia explored the UK’s space ambitions and plans for economic growth.Representatives from Lockheed Martin, SaxaVord Spaceport, UK Space, Seraphim Space and Harwell discussed the government’s industrial strategy, as well as exciting areas for cross-sector collaboration and engagement, with the infrastructure, defence and energy sectors.Speakers explored the impact of the space sector on national and regional growth, including priorities for growing the Scottish space sector. The importance of international exchanges to advance research, meet skills gaps and address society’s most pressing global challenges, like the climate crisis, were also discussed.Additional sessions looked at supporting SMEs in the space sector, from investment to ensuring they can access the skills they need. Developing a regulatory business environment that fosters innovation for advancing domestic space technology was another hot topic.UK Space’s Head of Policy, Stephanie Ayres, outlined the significant impact of the space industry on many of the UK’s other industries, from advanced manufacturing to financial services, professional services, life sciences and defence, to name a few.“Advanced manufacturing needs the use of robotics and high performance computing and modelling which the space industry is already characterised by. We produce leading edge robotics every day, as we plan our missions in space. The space sector supplies 95% of the UK’s climate monitoring information. When you think of the creative industries and its reliance on streaming, or digital technologies and communications, these areas could not operate without the space sector,” added Ayres.The scope of the space sector’s impact was again reiterated by Neil Rae, UK Space Lead at KPMG who have released an extensive report on the space economy and its opportunities.“Space is having an increasingly disruptive impact not dissimilar to the digital revolution. We can’t think of it as an isolated sector anymore. The conversation needs to be about what space does for everyone else, and all our other industries it impacts.”Geraldine Naja, Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness at the European Space Agency illustrated the booming global use of space, opportunities and investment by both the public and private sector.“Space has changed considerably in the last one or two decades,” she said. “It is a full part of the economy now. It’s estimated that each of us uses an average of 40 satellites each day without even knowing it. It’s also a crucial enabler for various areas – from environment and research to health and agriculture – and an enabler of new global markets.”

Mobilising talent

The sheer breadth of the sector and its pace of growth makes talent even more essential. Speakers explored skills for the space workforce, with many stating that the sector is far broader than publicly perceived.Dr Heidi Thiemann, Co-founder and Director of the Space Skills Alliance talked through its 2030 Space Skills Roadmap. The plan aims to grow the space workforce, address recruitment and retention challenges, increase access to high-quality training and explore opportunities for participation.“We really need to improve the perception of space and who can work in the sector and stop using just rockets and astronauts to illustrate how people can work in this industry. There are much more varied opportunities. We need to share the abundance of real world applications space technology has to help people realise the range of applicable skills that are needed,” said Thiemann.Looking at specific skills gaps, Thiemann spoke about the struggle to find RF engineers in the midst of complex immigration policies and called for more visible routes into the sector and stronger alignment with employer needs.While Dr Athina Frantzana, Chair, New Voices in Space Working Group, Space Scotland, talked about inclusive recruitment and promoting alternative pathways for people to enter the sector later in life.Stewart McKinlay, Chair, Skills Working Group, Space Scotland, looked at pinch points for space employers in Scotland such as the need for control engineers and critical shortages in technical roles. He voiced the challenge of losing local talent, with many leaving Scotland to later compete against it, as well as combatting loss of talent to other sectors. McKinlay also challenged the audience to think about ways to divert a surplus of astronaut applicants into other areas of space that have genuine skills gaps.Facilitating growth in such a highly competitive industry is impossible without strong talent.Nik Smith, Regional Director, UK & Europe, Lockheed Martin, emphasised the role of free movement to attract the best people.“Space is very much a global industry and we need to make the transfer of talent easier through bilateral trade agreements and easier movement,” said Smith.“There can also be too much focus on exceptional space skills,” warned Smith. “The reality is the industry needs a whole host of skills, from communicators to broader technical skills. Space is open and available. We need to look at how we attract talent from adjacent markets too, that have many valuable and applicable skills for our industry.”

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Did you know?

Current uses of space technology include areas as vast as mining, tourism, transport, energy, maritime, agriculture and health.

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Number crunch

£17.5 billion – Estimated total UK space industry income in 2020-2021.48,800 - Jobs directly provided by the UK space sector in 2021, while supporting an additional 78,000 across the supply chain.73% - Increase in UK Space Agency spending from 2018-19 to 2022-23 (from £373 million to £647 million).Source: National Audit Office

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