WELCOME TO THE

The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space.

The UK’s thriving space sector contributes a total of £9.1 billion a year to the UK economy and directly employs 28,900 with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%.

The UKSA wants to see the space industry grow to £40 billion and 100,000 jobs, and to represent 10% of worldwide space products and services within the next 20 years.

These targets are more than achievable with the right funding and we could see the United Kingdom as the leading world power in the science and innovation of space exploration.

Still there are many people who argue that space exploration is a huge waste of taxpayers money. The aim of this informative booklet is to persuade you that space exploration is not only a positive project for the UK, but critical in securing a strong economy for the future.

WHAT HAS SPACE EXPLORATION EVER DONE FOR US?

MeteorologyWeather forecasting was once little more accurate than folklore. Now satellites can monitor drought in Africa, floods in the Bay of Bengal and hurricanes across the Caribbean, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Instant televisionSince Telstar, the first television satellite in 1962, viewers have watched events almost as they unfolded, the ability to transmit data around the globe instantly has allowed live news coverage of any event worldwide.

NavigationLone yachtsmen and jumbo jets now make pinpoint landfalls, and polar explorers with mobile phones can guide rescue craft to the precise ice floe, thanks to navstar global positioning satellites (GPS).

Hydrogen Fuel cellsInvented by a Victorian barrister, the Grove fuel cell was ignored until the Apollo programme. Now vehicle manufacturers are testing the ultimate green fuel - hydrogen, high performance with only water as exhaust.

The environmentSpace platforms monitor pollution, measure forest destruction, survey agriculture, identify mineral deposits, spot buried archaeological structures and even uncover agricultural fraud.

Medical healthSpacesuit studies have led to a panoply of health monitors, warning systems, respirators, remote microphones and other miniaturised medical technology.

RoboticsSpace engineers have to think small - and flexible. This has inspired a new generation of tiny sensors, monitors and automaton explorers heading for distant planets.

MaterialsApologists always mention non-stick frying pans. But the most dramatic could be aerogel: featherlight but supporting 4,000 times its own weight. Nasa christened it “frozen smoke”.

LaptopsSpace missions needed onboard computers. But they had to be small. So space research drove the industry to pack ever more power into ever smaller hardware.

IS SPACE EXPLORATION A WASTE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY?

If you have read through the benefits to mankind outlined on that last page and still feel that space exploration is a waste of money, take a look at a few of these figures.

Estimated Growth of UK space industry.

Amount the UKSA takes from government funding:

Amount UK space industry adds to UK economy:

£256 Million

2013

£9.1Billion

2030

£9.1 Billion

£40+ Billion

Along with making huge advancements in our understanding of the universe, the UK space industry adds around £9.1 Billion to our economy, far eclipsing the cost to run the UKSA itself. When compared with other government funded bodies the UKSA takes an insignificant chunk of the total budget and gives back both knowledge and wealth in return.

UK TotalGovernment

Spending 2013

DON’T WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT HERE?

If the UKSA receives the correct funding the space industry could account for a large chunk of the UK economy. With this it will bring large amount of wealth, but more importantly, a large number of jobs.

2013 2030

29,000

100,000+Estimated number of UK jobs generated by space industry.

The growth of the space industry will provide a wide range of jobs; from graduate engineering positions to high-tech manufacturing. If we build a thriving space industry sector the UK we could find a resurgence of manufacturing jobs in towns that lost trade during the 70s and 80s. Unemployment has hit the UK hard in more recent times and a growth in the space sector could reverse the decline of British manufacturing, provide jobs and help struggling areas across the UK. While it’s not a solution for all of our problems the industry will be putting more people in jobs in the long run.

THE FUTURE.AN EXAMPLE OF OUR ROLE.

The UKSA has links to many exciting projects that are being set up an run right here in the UK. Alongside helping British and European companies run experiments, satellites and our collective advancement we are helping with the administration and funding of one very special project;

On September 20-21st 2010, the UKSA hosted a meeting at the International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell, England to look at the feasibility of a proposal by the privately-held Reaction Engines Ltd. for the design of a single-stage to orbit launch vehicle, SKYLON, and its novel propulsion concept, SABRE. The meeting brought together nearly a hundred invited experts from the UK, Europe, Russia, United States, South Korea and Japan to examine the technical and economic prospects for the technology.

The SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) is a variable-cycle engine which can use air taken in through intakes like a turbojet when operating in the atmosphere before converting to pure rocket mode as it enters space. In the Skylon vehicle concept, it would allow 10-15 tonnes of satellite payload to be injected into Low Earth Orbit before the vehicle returned under automatic control to its spaceport close to the equator.

Both SABRE and SKYLON would represent major advances in aerospace technology and could change the economics of access to space entirely.

10 Metres

Pan View

Front View

Side View

Artists Impression of the SKYLON.

Rear View

http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency