The UK Space Industry

This briefing examines the UK space industry, including its size and the types of activities that it supports. It also sets out government policy for the UK space sector and provides an overview of the Space Industry Act 2018. Finally, the briefing covers key UK Space Agency programmes and missions, and considers the international outlook for the UK space industry.

There is a separate Library briefing on the International Regulation of Space.

Overview of UK Space Industry

The UK space industry is a fast-growing sector that supports a range of public services, particularly through satellite data and imagery, such as disaster relief, telecommunications, global positioning systems (GPS), and weather forecasting. In 2021-22, total UK space industry income was £18.9 billion, with the space industry supporting over 52,000 jobs across the UK.

The government invests in and funds the civil space sector in a variety of ways. As well as purchasing ‘downstream’ services, such as geospatial data and satellite services for communication and positioning, it also invests directly in ‘upstream’ manufacturing and facilities. For example, in January 2025, the government invested £20 million in the UK launch company Orbex to build and launch a rocket from Scotland.

A sizable proportion of the government’s funding for the civil space sector is directed through the UK Space Agency (UKSA), an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). In 2022-23, UKSA’s expenditure was £647 million representing an increase in expenditure of 74.5% since 2018-19 (when expenditure was £373 million).

Strategy and policy

The government published a National Space Strategy in September 2021. It was jointly produced by what is now DSIT and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), with the aim of establishing a more integrated approach across military and civil space policy. The strategy describes the UK’s 10-year vision to “build one of the most innovative and attractive space economies in the world”. This includes the UK becoming the first country in Europe to achieve small satellite launch from a UK spaceport and establishing itself as a leader in commercial small satellite launch. In July 2023, the National Space Strategy in Action set out the government’s achievements to date in delivering the National Space Strategy. This was followed by the government’s Space Industrial Plan in March 2024 which provided more information about how the government may use public procurement to help grow the space industry.

A 2024 report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that the National Space Strategy had been welcomed by industry and had helped to “stimulate interest from investors and industry in the sector”. The NAO concluded, however, that DSIT had failed to provide “enough clarity or detail on its strategic ambitions”, leaving delivery bodies with insufficient guidance on the outcomes the government was looking to achieve.

Space Industry Act 2018 and regulations

The Space Industry Act 2018 created the high-level legal framework to enable commercial spaceflight to be carried out from spaceports in the UK. It also made provision to establish a more detailed regulatory framework through secondary legislation. During 2020, the Government held several consultations seeking views on its draft regulations. Three sets of space-related regulations were subsequently made in 2021. They included the Space Industry Regulations 2021 which enabled the licensing and regulation of spaceflight, spaceports and range control activities taking place in the UK. They also appointed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the regulator and gave the CAA additional powers to monitor, and enforce compliance with, the regulations.

International outlook

Over 80% of the UKSA’s budget in 2022-23 (£553 million) was spent on the government’s participation in the European Space Agency (ESA). Its membership of ESA was not affected by the UK leaving the EU as ESA is not an EU organisation. UKSA’s commitments to ESA are agreed every two to four years. This happened most recently in November 2022, when the UK announced it would invest £1.6 billion to deliver international space programmes via ESA over the next five years. The government announced in March 2025 that the UK had secured ESA contracts in the last quarter of 2024 worth £80 million more than government’s contributions to ESA. The government reported that between 2022 and 2024 the total value of contracts secured for the UK through ESA was £844 million.