Space Technologies

Our Solution

The space sector is an ecosystem of businesses and academia that all rely on space-based technologies and data one way or another.

The space sector can be understood to mean both the manufacture of spacecraft and products associated with this, together with companies offering services and products which rely on space-based data or services. These are often referred to as the 'upstream' and 'downstream elements of the space sector.

The UK space sector can be split into four broad sub-sectors:

• Space manufacturing and launchers to place spacecraft in orbit
• Satellite operators
• Satellite applications and services
• Ancillary services

Satellite applications and services account for the majority of the sector's turnover (74%), followed by space operations (15%), space manufacturing (8%) and ancillary services (3%).

The UK space sector directly employs over 38,521 employees. Patterns of employment are significantly more geographically distributed as in 2015:

England               31,041

Wales                                   370

Scotland                              7,033

Northern Ireland             77

Employment

• Employees in the space sector are on average the highest qualified by sector in the UK, with three out of four space sector employees holding a higher education qualification.

• With its highly skilled workforce, the sector's low volume, highly specialised production means that the movement of skilled business people within and between companies is an essential part of its business model.
• There is a significant skills shortage in the UK space sector. The UK Space Agency has a programme of activity to draw in more professionals to the sector. Meeting the sector's 2030 target would necessitate the creation of 80,000 new skilled jobs with a corresponding demand on the supply of STEM graduates and world-leading scientists.

Ethnic minorities have been denied opportunities to progress into professional jobs and are underrepresented at the top of businesses across all sectors.

Additional Employees from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely than those from a White British background to say experiencing discrimination contributed to their failure in achieving their career expectations.