Why Space Matters
Published 19 March 2024
漏 Crown copyright 2024
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1. Critical for UK economy
17.78% of UK GDP economy dependent on satellite services
拢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
拢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 拢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 拢15 million UK Space Agency commitment catalysed 拢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)