News that the UK’s space industry grew during the recession should be welcomed by highly skilled technology contractors.
The industry, which has been growing at an average rate of 10% since 2007, is now worth in excess of £7.5 billion to the UK economy. Employment in the sector is currently rising at around 15% a year and this trend is expected to continue for the immediate future.
Satellite broadcasting and telecommunications are amongst the best performing areas. At the beginning of the week, Immarsat, the London based satellite communications operator, announced an increase of 18.4% in third quarter earnings.
David Willetts, the science minister, believes the UK space sector is already a remarkable story of success in high-tech innovation. However, the industry wants to continue growing and is always looking for new opportunities.
Recently the sector set out its 20 year vision; Space Innovation and Growth Strategy. S-IGS covered diverse areas such as space tourism but stressed that more government investment is required and more money needs to be set aside for research and development if the space industry is going to create up to 100,000 new jobs in the sector. Earth observation is another market the space sector feels could be highly profitable, but again the industry would need the government to make a long-term commitment to buying the imagery.
November is an exciting month for the UK’s space industry as the first British astronaut is due to finish training at the European Astronaut Centre and the HYLAS 1 satellite is due to launch on November 25 bringing internet to rural areas that do not get a service from terrestrial technology.
© 2010 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Image: lego astronaut sticker street art by srboisvert
