The Case for a New British Space Programme

The United Kingdom is anticipating its first-ever orbital rocket launch on its home soil this summer as Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) prepares to launch a satellite payload into orbit from the new SaxaVord spaceport in Unst (on the Shetland Islands). Such an achievement is, of course, cause for celebration and signals a vital expansion in the launch capabilities of both the UK and the European Space Agency (ESA), to whom the UK is a key participant.

However, this is no longer a world where space is a realm of cooperation.  The ESA has long relied on partnerships with NASA (USA) and Roscosmos (Russia) for launch assistance. Consequently, the ESA is forced to reconsider how to proceed in the future, even while European participation in the American Artemis Lunar program continues. While the ESA can depend on the French space industry to provide some vital launch capabilities, its Ariane series and spaceport located in French Guiana, placing the burdens of an entire continental space agency on one nation, is an inefficient and unsustainable practice.

There is clear demand for a British space industry; SaxaVord is now in negotiations with multiple other launch companies, including major US defence contractor Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, the loss of access to Russian launch platforms and the risk of reduced cooperation with the US amid ongoing economic and political tensions leave the ESA in need of new partners. But despite this need, the House of Lords is publishing reports raising concerns that the UK will in fact lose part of its market share in the global space sector.

The 2025 House of Lords Report on the UK space economy paints a dismal picture of the barriers preventing innovation and industrialisation of the UK space economy, but the barriers are no stranger to all of those familiar with the national economy. Space tech startups find themselves struggling to scale their operations sufficiently to compete, lacking access to government grants, a stable flow of skilled manpower amidst a growing national university funding crisis and an inefficient bureaucracy, which has been a barrier to UK firms wishing to set up at home – driving them abroad.

The UK cannot afford to fall behind as it currently is. The UK, as a nation with a high-tech economy and military, relies on access to space services to function. Without space-borne communication, navigation or observation, the UK would struggle to maintain the functions of several key sectors of the economy and wider digital society. The potential a domestic space economy could have for the stagnant British economy is equally vital, with the World Economic Forum forecasts predicting an average yearly growth of 9% in the global space economy: reaching $1.8tn by 2035.

With both demonstrated interest and necessity, the UK should urgently reconsider its stance on space. While current plans to begin launches from British territory are grounds for celebration, these launches are for rockets produced by and for foreign spaceflight firms. Cooperation is a necessity for the UK to establish any meaningful foundation, and it has been a historical precedent to seek cooperation (even with rivals) in space. But space is also undergoing increasing militarisation. And the growing space race between Washington and Beijing gives rise to nationalist sentiment and competition between space agencies,  especially if the ESA continues to expand its mandate towards colonisation, as its American and Chinese counterparts currently are.

The development of a domestic space program is no easy or cheap feat, but it is a feat that the UK is well-prepared for. The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is a significant provider of financial resources, technical know-how and even astronauts to the ESA; Timothy Peake deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015-16.  The UK also has an existing mature aerospace industry to support rocket production and a spaceport on the verge of its first launches. With the UK in dire need of new sources of economic growth, the emergence of this new space race represents a unique and valuable opportunity for the nation’s stagnant and neglected aerospace industry to recover from its multi-decade slump. A reinvigorated space sector would also support the national labour market and both national and international science firms who are currently reliant on a limited selection of global launch providers to reach orbit (or beyond).

For now, while the UK Government attempts to juggle domestic woes and draw up its vision for the future of space, spaceflight enthusiasts look forward to welcoming a new rocket and a new spaceport to the growing list of launch providers emerging amidst this new space race.

Image: Unsplash/Hamish Duncan

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