Growing UK space capabilities

As Deputy CEO and Chief Delivery Officer of the UK Space Agency, Annelies Look is accountable for the delivery of the Agency’s current portfolio of work. These programmes cover everything from space science and Earth observation missions, to building UK launch capability and improving space sustainability.

This role provides a uniquely in-depth perspective of the UK’s evolution in the space sector, putting her right at the heart of an industry that continues to outperform the wider UK economy in terms of growth. To demonstrate its importance at a national level, 16% of UK GDP is now dependent on satellite services and losing access to space would cost our economy approximately £1billion a day.

As Annelies says, “The UK space sector is growing at a remarkable rate and most people don’t realise how critical it is to our societal infrastructure. Whether it’s checking the weather, using Google Maps or completing a banking transaction, we’re incredibly dependent on space.”

So, the value of space is clear. But what challenges are hindering progress? And what can we as an ecosystem do to realise the opportunities on offer? I spoke to her at the Farnborough International Air Show to find out.

Moving on up

Various factors have contributed to the progress the UK space industry has made over the last few years. These include a significant drop in the cost of launching satellites, along with satellite miniaturisation and commercialisation making them smaller, cheaper and more powerful – ultimately meaning that more companies are using satellites as part of their operations.

Increased alignment between defence and civil has also been a key factor, as Annelies explains: “The launch of the National Space Strategy means that for the first time we have a single strategy for government that covers both defence and civil requirements. We’re working a lot more closely with our defence colleagues on dual-use capabilities which is really important in making sure we’re maximising the opportunity.”

This has all contributed to the UK’s strong standing at an international level. For example, we’re a key member state of the European Space Agency (ESA) and are recognised within ESA as the undisputed leader of European space commercialisation activities.

But that’s not our only contribution to the international ecosystem. As Annelies says, “We’re doing a lot internationally. We’ve got the International Bilateral Fund that allows us to work with other nations such as Canada and Japan to forge new relationships and deliver more in space – while supporting our economy through inward investments and exports.”

A bumpy ride

Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Annelies highlighted three particular challenges that she believes are hindering the space sector’s progress in the UK, the first of these being the perennial problem of making space relevant to broader society. Everyone within the space sector is full of passion, but are we doing enough to explain to people outside of the sector why space matters?

Annelies doesn’t think so: “The vast majority of people still don’t realise how much of their day-to-day life is reliant on space. Most people don’t naturally see space as the solution to their problems; they think it’s about astronauts and telescopes, but it’s so much more than that.”

The UK Space Agency’s ‘Unlocking space’ programme is designed to tackle this issue, focused on driving demand by educating people – from government officials to non-space businesses and potential investors – about how space can solve the challenges they’re facing in their daily lives.

“The conversation shouldn’t be about saying ‘here’s a shiny thing with a spectrometer on it that does XYZ’. What we need to be doing is having a conversation about the benefits and outcomes that can be realised from space applications.” Annelies also highlighted a recognition of the limits and constraints of three year government spending review cycles and how the agency is working to understand alternative possibilities in the future.

However, things are looking up given the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology’s inaugural speech at Farnborough where he highlighted the need to prioritise certainty over short-term solutions. According to Annelies, “this is exciting because if we can move away from three year planning cycles, that will really be a game-changer for the sector.”

The final challenge concerns the British psyche, which Annelies believes is holding us back. To explain this, she drew an interesting comparison between space and England men’s football manager Gareth Southgate.

“Southgate got us tantalisingly close to winning a trophy on multiple occasions and is one of the most successful managers we’ve ever had, but his remarkable success is instead played out as a failure because we didn’t win. The same was true after the Spaceport Cornwall launch last year, where the failure of the final stage motor eclipsed what was otherwise a huge success. A phenomenal amount of things went right, but one thing went wrong and it was declared a failure.”

This suggests there is an onus on us across the space ecosystem to educate the broader population about the challenges of space. We must encourage the UK generally to recognise that space is hard. Instead of chastising when things go wrong, we should be hailing the successes and taking learnings forwards.

Calls to action

Despite the challenges, Annelies is optimistic about the future of UK space. The speed at which the sector is growing is directly contributing to economic growth and the excellence of our various space clusters means this prosperity is being distributed to communities across the nation rather than being concentrated in one or two areas.

Internationally, we remain a highly respected space nation. This is partly due to our willingness to collaborate – as a founding member of the ESA collaboration in space is in the UK’s DNA, and there are many examples of key capabilities that have we have developed in collaboration with international partners – but largely due to our technical heritage across a range of space technologies and applications.

Of course, there’s always more that can be done to drive success, so what does Annelies want to see more of within the sector?

Her first message is one of unity. While our new government’s priorities for space are yet to become clear, we know that there will be some tough choices to make in terms of where we focus our effort. Once we know the direction of travel, Annelies wants to see the space sector unify behind those decisions and push hard to achieve our objectives.

“Space is huge. There’s no shortage of things that we could spend money on, but we can’t afford to invest in everything. As a nation we’re going to need to focus in on some areas, so I urge the sector to get behind them and help drive them forwards. Otherwise we’ll end up with a lot of talking and debate without ever getting to the delivery.”

About the author

Elizabeth Seward, head of space strategy and market development

Further reading:

• AI technologies and their influence on the 2024 elections | BAE Systems

• Client Conversation: Doug Liddle’s career so far and where he thinks the future of space innovation lies. | BAE Systems

• Juliette Wilcox CMG | former UK Cyber Ambassador | Promoting UK cyber on the world stage | BAE Systems

• Space data use in multi-domain operations | BAE Systems

• Securing space networks amidst growing cyber threats | BAE Systems