Why Space Matters
Published 19 March 2024
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1. Critical for UK economy
17.78% of UK GDP economy dependent on satellite services
£7.6 billion of UK GDP would be lost if satellite navigation services went down for a 7-day period
(sources: Size & Health of the UK Space Industry 2022; Economic Impact to UK of disruption to GNSS, 2023)
2. Investment benefits
Economic benefits outweigh costs of UK investment in ESA by 9.8:1
(source: Evaluation of UK invetments in the European Space Agency)
3. UK space sector, high productivity & high growth
Year-on-year sector growth outpaces wider economy by 5%
1590 organisations
49,000 people employed
£17.5 billion income generated
2.5x the national average for labour productivity
(source: Size & Health of the UK space industry 2022)
4. Leadership in space science
300 annual publications linked to UK Space Agency programmes
4th in the world for % of publications in top 10% most cited
80% of UK-led publications include international collaboration
Top 3 collaborators:
- United States
- France
- Germany
(source: UK Space Agency Bibliometric Analysis, 2021; OECD Space Forum, 2023)
5. Weather, climate & net-zero
60% of essential climate variables cannot be measured without Earth Observation satellite capabilities
Weather forecasting & climate services provided by satellites contribute at least £1 billion per year to the UK economy
(source: Value of satellite-derived Earth Observation capabilities to the UK Government, 2018)
6. Future growth & Levelling Up
UK Space Agency programmes are increasingly focused upon catalysing inward private investment within the UK
UK Space Agency spending is increasingly outside of the greater South East
- National Space Innovation Programme
- Connectivity in Low-Earth Orbit
- Unlocking Space for Business
- Unlocking Space for Investment
- Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund
Recent £15 million UK Space Agency commitment catalysed £35 million private investment to fund skills and technology centre in North East England
7. Public spending compared to other space nations
In 2022, HMG spent 0.025% of national GDP on civil space.
This was:
- 2x less than Germany, India and Belgium
- 3x less than Italy and Japan
- 4x less than France and the USA
(source: The Space Economy in Figures; OECD, 2023)