Last week the UK Space Agency released their ‘Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ report showing that the UK Space industry has seen marked growth in both total income and number of employees, cementing the UK as a global leader in this sector.
The total income of the UK space industry has grown to £13.7bn in 2014/15 with the upstream proportion growing on previous years, although the downstream segment remains dominant, particularly Space Applications (eg GPS).
The survey also reported positive news for exports which grew to £5bn, which is 36.4% of the total income for the sector. It is particularly important to see exports growing if the UK is to grow its share of the international Space market and meet the ambition of 10% of the market.
It is positive to see that total direct employment grew in the sector providing 38,522 high-skill, high-wage jobs with total employment supported at 113,866. Not only is employment increasing but productivity in the UK Space industry is 2.7 times higher than the UK average.
The Size and Health industry report has shown that the UK Space sector is growing in strength and contributing to the UK’s global competitiveness. To read more about the findings please click here.
