The UK space industry is a success story, supporting more than 52,000 jobs across the UK, with productivity 2.3 times the national average, and more than £360 billion of UK economic activity underpinned by space.
UK companies lead the world in small satellite manufacture, satellite communications and geospatial technologies. We are at the forefront of developing the new in-orbit economy, projected to be worth £1.8 trillon by 2035.
UK businesses are seizing opportunities to develop technologies to clear space debris, repair, refuel and upgrade satellites in orbit, making space more accessible and sustainable. Perhaps most exciting of all, the UK is advancing its capability to build large structures in space including space-based solar power stations and in-orbit platforms for the development and manufacture of pioneering medicines and novel materials in microgravity.
Despite our progress, we are yet to fully exploit the potential of space to benefit communities and businesses across the country. Satellite communications can close the connectivity gap in our hard-to-reach regions, giving underserved populations the ubiquitous connectivity needed to unlock the digital economy for all. Satellites can underpin the delivery and planning of modern, efficient public services, and provide resilient capabilities that our emergency services and armed forces can rely on. Satellite-derived Earth observation data is not always procured efficiently or used consistently across government and the private sector, but these data should be used to inform essential sustainability reporting, environmental planning, and climate preparedness. We have barely started to use satellites to develop and implement the systems that will enable the use of autonomous vehicles on land, sea and air, vehicles that could be used to empower those with mobility issues, deliver medicines to rural communities or inspect offshore wind installations and other critical national infrastructure.
The Satellite Applications Catapult works with government agencies, innovative UK SMEs, large prime companies and academia to accelerate growth in the UK space sector and the wider economy, and benefit citizens in the UK and around the world.
We provide expertise, business support and facilities, connecting and convening the industry, creating links to adjacent sectors and collaborating in innovative research projects. We have helped UK companies raise more than £700 m of private investment, fuelling innovation and promoting growth.
Space is a crucial part of our national infrastructure. The Satellite Applications Catapult is focused on helping the sector to drive development and adoption of space-based and space-enabled technologies that will help the UK meet our greatest challenges and achieve our boldest ambitions. Our aim is to ensure that the new space age enriches the lives of our citizens, helps to deliver public services more efficiently and effectively, and allows the UK to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity.
Background
In 2010, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills initiated a review of UK technical innovation. Following Hermann Hauser’s report, the Satellite Applications Catapult, was the third Catapult established, with a remit to accelerate the development of the size and capability of the UK’s civil space sector.
Since December 2012 we have supported over 800 SMEs, worked on 100 international projects and catalysed private investment of more than £700 m into the sector. Through our national network of 15 space clusters, spread across the country from Scotland to Cornwall, and Northern Ireland to Suffolk, we have made a significant contribution to making our space industry a success. The impact of the Catapults has been recognised in numerous independent reviews, most recently in two 2023 reports commissioned by Innovate UK. In these reviews it was determined that: “Catapults have developed over the last decade to play an increasingly important role in the UK innovation system”.
Vanino and Roper, the authors of the reports, concluded that “there is a strong positive effect on employment and turnover growth of firms engaging with Catapults”, with employment “growing by almost 16 per cent faster in 6 years after the start of the intervention”.
The space sector has a great deal more to offer the UK.
We believe that space has a significant role to play in the UK’s industrial plan. The sector is already a major employer, and it enables an even wider range of ‘downstream’ industries to operate, grow and prosper in UK. Advancing the UK’s capability and capacity to release innovation and build expertise will make the UK attractive to inward investment and the world’s brightest and best people. To reach our potential we must recognise the often-unseen contribution of our space sector to our citizens and our economy, and ensure that investment in space is targeted to achieve the UK’s objectives.
To find out more about the Satellite Applications Catapult visit out website.
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