TAMPA, Fla. — New research released by the UK Space Agency underscores the country’s growing reliance on satellite technologies, which supported industries accounting for about 18% of national gross domestic product (GDP) based on the most recent data.
The estimate, drawn from 2022 economic figures, values this contribution at 454 billion British pounds ($608 billion), which a UK Space Agency spokesperson said is up from 364 billion British pounds a year earlier, or 16% of GDP.
The largest contributor to the increase was the crude petroleum sector, where rising oil prices and the use of satellite services for exploration and monitoring helped drive growth. This sector alone accounted for about a fifth of the overall change.
Breaking down the contributions by type of satellite service highlights how different capabilities support the wider British economy:
- Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS): 364 billion British pounds (14% of GDP)
- Meteorological satellites: 264 billion British pounds (11%)
- Satellite communications: 169 billion British pounds (7%)
- Earth observation: 164 billion British pounds (7%)
Space-related businesses in the U.K. brought in an estimated 18.6 billion British pounds ($24.9 billion) in 2024, the UK Space Agency spokesperson said, or around 0.7% of GDP.
Recently published research from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed the space economy accounted for $142.5 billion of total U.S. GDP in 2023, or 0.5%.
The UK Space Agency published the scale of the sector’s economic impact July 14, days after the British government committed around $191 million to avoid having its 10.89% stake in French multi-orbit satellite operator Eutelsat diluted, following a new funding round led by France.
The British government acquired that stake when Eutelsat merged with OneWeb, the U.K.-based satellite operator it had previously helped rescue from bankruptcy.
The UK Space Agency is also set to receive 682.3 million British pounds for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, up more than 10% on the amount spent the previous year.
Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said the budget lift “will help us drive forward our work to build stronger national capabilities and catalyze more private investment, in close collaboration with the sector, wider government bodies and international partners.”
Kicking off the UK Space Conference in Manchester, England, the agency unveiled 4.5 million British pounds in funding July 15 for four satellite projects:
- MDA Space UK’s SkyPhi mission, which aims to enable 5G and 6G connectivity directly to mobile devices via low Earth orbit satellites.
- Orbit Fab’s Radical project, focused on developing in-orbit refueling systems for telecommunications satellites.
- SSTL’s lunar communications system, designed to support deep-space communications.
- Viasat’s hybrid GEO-LEO network, which would provide global 5G direct-to-device coverage.
The UK Space Agency also said an additional 1.6 million British pounds will be invested in the country’s space cluster network to stimulate innovation and economic growth through regional collaboration.