UK Space Agency sizes the UK Space Industry

Revenue

UK space industry income amounted to £18.9bn, it says. And while the industry consists of organisations of all sizes, in terms of space-related income it is highly concentrated, the report notes.

Twenty organisations account for 75% of the UK’s space-related income, 142 for the next 15%, and over 1,600 for the remaining 10%. Three organisations each generated more than £1 billion pounds and 243 each generated more than £5m.

Segments

In terms of industry segments, the largest contributing segment is Space Applications (72% of total income). This itself is dominated by DTH broadcasting, which made up 47% of total industry income.

This was followed by Space Manufacturing (13%), Space Operations (11%) and Ancillary Services (3%).

Finally, a newly-added In-Space Economy segment, which is largely made up of organisations and activities that were previously categorised as Space Operations, received just 0.2% of total industry income.

Employment

Direct employment in the UK space industry was 52,028 full-time positions (with Sky UK having an estimated 40% of the sector’s employees).

The reports authors recorded this as 5% growth, allowing for methodological updates, including a revised treatment of universities’ space-related activities, which added approximately 850 full time employees).

The report states:

“A majority of space-related employees were employed in Space Applications, which accounted for 65% of the industry total (2020/21: 67%). Of this, DTH broadcasting is a major component (41% of the total). Space Manufacturing employs the next most (20%), followed by Space Operations (9%). Ancillary services employ a small but important share (5%), while the nascent In-Space Economy segment employs just 0.4%.”

Interestingly, the labour productivity (GVA per employee) for the UK space industry was estimated at £137,910. This is 2.3 times the UK’s average labour productivity (£60,340), reflecting the more highly skilled workforce.

Note however:

“The present-year figures represent a continued decline in labour productivity in the UK space industry over the past few years as the roles within the sector broaden and expand beyond a smaller number of high-skill and highly productive roles.”

In terms of gender, the workforce was 75% male and 25% female according to the sample.

“The proportions of various ethnic groups amongst survey respondents are broadly consistent with figures from the 2021 census for England and Wales[footnote 27]. People from white ethnic groups made up the largest percentage at 80% (compared to 82% from the census), with Asian or Asian British making up the second most prevalent ethnic group at 14% of the sample (9% in the census). Black, Black British, Caribbean, or African were slightly underrepresented at 2% (4% in the census), along with other ethnic groups at 1% (2% in the census). Mixed ethnic groups were consistent with census data at 3%.”

Organisations

Finally, the industry numbers 1,766 organisations involved in space-related activities, an 11% increase on the previous year. Note that the 209 collected survey responses represent 15% of total industry income.

The research was carried out by London Economics, an economics consultancy.

You can read the full report online and also find the equivalent report for 2022 here.

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