Can Britain become a new space pioneer?

The thought of working in space is genuinely exciting for most of us. I was lucky enough to join this New Scientist debate to discuss Britain's future in space with the Commander of UK Space Command as well as inspiring leaders from the UK Space Agency and Government. 

 

BAE Systems is growing its presence in space significantly, as you'll have seen with our acquisition of In-Space Missions earlier this year. It was great to hear from UK Space Command's Paul Godfrey that Low Earth Orbit satellite capability, which In-Space Missions brings us, is one of the key technologies they're looking at to build resilience in satellite communications and earth observation.

 

Rebecca Evernden, Director of the Space Directorate in government, who was responsible for the recent UK National Space Strategy, talked about the importance of sustainability in space. This includes both earth observation to monitor the impacts of climate change, as well as the sustainability of space itself in terms of security and debris.
 
Emily Gravestock, Head of Applications Strategy at UK Space Agency was inspirational about how the industry is encouraging space skills for young people and pointed out there are currently 46,500 people in the UK space industry, with a growing proportion of women. She's also confident that the UK will play an important role in NASA's next Moon mission, given all the space technology that comes from this country.
 
If you watch it, I hope you'll agree it shows that space presents some exciting opportunities for both BAE Systems and the UK as a whole.