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UK Space Agency is opening new headquarters in Harwell (Oxfordshire) and regional offices in Scotland, Wales, and the Midlands, as it ‘works to support the space sector across the UK’. The Agency says the expansion will enable the it to collaborate more closely with ‘the UK’s thriving space sector, while promoting regional skills and job opportunities to deliver increasingly ambitious missions and capabilities’.
“The UK space sector is growing faster than the rest of the UK economy. It is worth over £17.5 billion per year and employs over 45,000 people, while satellites underpin £360 billion per year of wider economic activity. The new HQ at Harwell is due to open in June, while offices at William Morgan House in Cardiff and Space Park Leicester will open in April; the office at Queen Elizabeth House, in Edinburgh, will open later in the summer.”
Andrew Griffith, Minister for Space at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, added: “Harwell’s Space Cluster is already a hub of collaboration with more than 100 research organisations and 1,400 jobs, making it the ideal location for the UK Space Agency’s new headquarters. At the same time, our space sector has grown considerably throughout all parts of the UK, and new offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Leicester will serve the space researchers and innovators around the country while creating more jobs, growing our local economies, and strengthening the UK’s science ambitions.”
Dr Paul Bate, UK Space Agency CEO, added: “This is a transformational moment for the UK Space Agency, one that responds directly to the feedback that the Agency should be embedded in the sector. Our new headquarters, located at the UK’s biggest space cluster in Harwell will connect to regional offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Leicester, and our existing London and Swindon teams, helping us recruit space talent from across the nation and deliver the ‘National Space Strategy’.
“We have seen a significant rise in space organisations throughout the UK and it is crucial that we nurture their skills and expertise to ensure we continue this journey. The new structure will create significant opportunities to build on high-growth areas, such as Earth observation and satellite broadband. It will also help the UK establish early leadership in emerging markets such as in orbit spacecraft servicing, active space debris removal, and the new lunar economy.”