The UK’s space sector has seen significant growth in its income, exports and workforce, with total income now standing at £14.8 billion per annum.

The independent UK space industry: size and health report says that, compared to the 2016 survey, income is up from £13.7 billion to £14.8 billion, employment is up from 38,522 to 41,900, and exports are up from £5 billion to £5.5 billion.

The report also shows that an average of 39 new companies have been added to the UK space sector every year since 2012.

UK Science Minister Chris Skidmore says this is the most authoritative survey of the sector, showing that an annual growth rate of 1.6% in 2014/15 accelerated to 2.1% for 2015/16 and 4.5% for 2016/17.

Much of this growth was due to ‘space manufacturing’ — including satellites, ground systems and components — which increased at a rate of 27% per year.

The UK has significant capabilities in this area, building major parts for one in four of the world’s commercial telecommunications satellites.

Meanwhile, the satellite services industry is worth an estimated £300 billion of UK GDP, up from £250 billion in the previous survey. Earth Observation services are worth £92 billion of GDP and are currently growing at a rate of 25% per year.

Mr Skidmore said: “Our space industry is a great UK success story. New innovations and pioneering experts are helping the sector to grow faster than the rest of the economy as whole.

“By investing in important infrastructure such as the National Satellite Test Facility near Oxford and establishing satellite launch capabilities, our space sector is continuing to thrive.”

Graham Turnock, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Our ambition is to grow the UK space sector to 10% of the global market.

“The latest figures show welcome progress on growth and highlight the many areas where there is significant potential to build on our successes, using the extensive skills, experience and capabilities that we have across the country.”