Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Size and Health of the UK Space Industry Report

The British space industry has grown by nearly eight per cent through the recession and is now worth over GBP7.5 billion, according to UK Space Agency report.

The report, ‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry,’ is the latest update of a biennial survey of British companies involved in the sector. It shows that space industry has grown by more than 10 per cent on an average over the last two years.

The report, produced for the UK Space Agency by Oxford Economics, surveyed 260 companies across both the upstream (companies which provide space technology) and the downstream (companies that utilise space technologies). Against the backdrop of difficult economic conditions, the space industry has maintained its momentum, as it recorded an average growth of more than 11 per cent in downstream companies and three per cent growth in upstream providers, compared to the national GDP growth of 0.3 per cent, according to UK Space Agency.

Science Minister David Willetts said, “The British space industry is worth over GBP7 billion to the economy. It is a sector that is growing as fast as the Chinese economy and a remarkable success story of high-tech innovation.”

Employment within the space sector has also strengthened by just over nine per cent to reach 24,900 in 2008/2009. Upstream and downstream industries have both grown at a rate of over 12 per cent, doubling the average annual employment growth rate of six per cent since 1999/2000.

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