British space industry and the coming age of space exploration
The world is starting to take an interest in space once again, and we must make sure that we are not left behind; we must go as one country, swift, silent and bold, into the dark greatness that surrounds us.
The space industry has been one of the few British industries that survived the mass deindustrialisation of the 80’s. It’s unique tradition of naming satellites after Shakespearean characters, like the first British satellite aerial launched in 1962, lives on to this day.
It is strange then that almost no one knows about the UK space agency or its work, mostly because it has preferred funding private companies and small unmanned spacecraft. Although this approach is more cost effective and has encouraged many home grown UK space companies, like Oxford Space Systems and Bristol Spaceplanes, it lacks the punch of massive manned rockets plastered with the stars and stripes.
Even still this is a vital and emerging British industry, one that we all should take pride in, and it is criminal how little is known about the British contributions to spacefaring technology. The first all UK radar spacecraft, NovaSar, was launched in late 2018 and its military and security benefits will only be enhanced by the advanced satellite cluster of Project Oberon. Similarly three separate spaceports will be built in the early 2020’s in the UK in Sutherland, Shetland and Cornwall. All this advancement could propel the UK to a world leading position in spacefaring if we funded and developed it enough.
Right now we should all be looking toward the final frontier and the benefits it could provide. If we invest heavily and consistently now we could create an infrastructure that sets us up to take a far more prominent role in the age of space exploration that is just around the corner. The UK space industry has trebled in size since 2000 and is now worth £14.8 billion; we must press this advantage as far as it will go and intensify this silent crawl into space.
The world is starting to take an interest in space once again, and we must make sure that we are not left behind; we must go as one country, swift, silent and bold, into the dark greatness that surrounds us.
