The Space industry is often thought of largely in terms of manned space flight – space shuttles, Rockets, and the International Space Station. Yet the unmanned sector of Space flight also represents a significant chunk of the space sector, and one the UK industry is poised to expand into in the coming decade. By necessity, the challenges of putting human beings into space is vast compared to that of unmanned space flight, the complex life support and safety redundancies necessitating an understandably cautious development process. In contrast, the market for developing and launching unmanned satellites and probes into Space is a well-established one, worth £400bn globally.
It is estimated that there are around 3000 operational satellites currently in orbit around the Earth. These serve a huge variety of civil and military applications including weather observation, remote sensing, surveillance, navigation, communications, broadcasting, as well as forming the basis for newer communications options – such as global satellite phones. The UK has developed a reputation for developing and building high-tech cutting-edge satellites, but fewer than 5% of the 3,000 satellites in orbit around our planet are registered to the UK. We have not independently launched a satellite of our own since 1971. This is even though parts of our landmass – such as the far north of Scotland – are ideal for launching satellites into the polar orbits, perfect for small, Low Earth Orbiting satellites.
At the dawn of the Space Race in the 50s and 60s, the UK was the third ever space-faring nation, with much of its contribution coming from the research and development of components to solve specific challenges. The Bacon Fuel Cell (named after its inventor, Francis Thomas Bacon) was invented in 1932 and continue to power satellites, rockets, and other space-going technology today. Bacon was famously invited to the White House and told by President Nixon "Without you Tom, we wouldn't have gotten to the moon.”<sup> </sup>
Since then, it could be argued, the UK’s contributions to Space missions have not been as eye-catching. This, however, is all poised to change. Over the last decade, space has proven to be one of the UKs fastest growing sectors, it has trebled in size since 2010, now employing 42,000 people and generating an income of £15bn every year. The UK government has targeted to grow this to around £40bn by 2030.
In 2020, the government approved plans for Lockheed Martin to transfer its small satellite launch operations to the Shetland Space Centre on the Scottish island of Uist. The resulting base is to be known as Spaceport 1, and it is hoped to be just the first of several Spaceports supporting the UK’s ambitions in this arena.
Peter Ruddock, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK, is excited about the future for Space in the UK, and the ways in which the Shetland Spaceport launch capability could benefit UK civilian and military programmes. Peter explains, ‘this site is a key enabler for launch to a polar orbit, but the real value comes from the payloads (initially LEO) that we can build in the UK to maximise that new capability.’ The UK is in a great place to build an effective Space industry because of our natural curiosity and ability to innovate, coupled with the strength of our academic institutions and leadership in key areas of technology. Being so well positioned to tackle future Space challenges, we anticipate this will help build capability and sustain growth. Peter ‘welcomes the Government’s commitment to Space and looks forward to seeing coherent policy and direction to underpin that high level of ambition.’
There is clearly cause for great optimism for the future of the UK space industry. If more leading UK-based and international organisations like Lockheed Martin bring further investment and impetus to the UK, then perhaps we will witness the UK becoming a leader in the Space sector and more names like Francis Bacon will be written into British pioneering history.
If you would like to discuss this article in more detail, the wider market, and/or your people challenges and growth plans for 2021, please do not hesitate to contact John Begley, Managing Director, via john.begley@normanbroadbent.com