1. The UK Space Agency-European Space Agency Partnership Is Strong and Economically Valuable

The relationship with the European Space Agency (ESA) continues to deliver on both scientific and economic fronts. At Space Comm Expo, we learned that the UK gets a 9.8x multiplier on our ESA investment, with Dr. Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, calling it “the real power.” ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher spoke shortly after Dr Bate, showing how aligned the UK and ESA are at present.

2. Space as a part of the Industrial Strategy

Both events confirmed that space is a pillar of the Government’s growth mission. Ministers including Peter Kyle and Sarah Jones (Minister for Industry) made the case that space underpins a lot of the Government's industrial strategy, Invest 2035, from national security to everyday economic functions - particularly through satellites.

At Farnborough, we heard encouraging news about the UK’s growing space presence, including a likely UK launch from SaxaVord this year, and German firm OHB has just opened its UK HQ in Bristol. Sarah Jones noted that space is now one of the four initial sectors under the UK’s new Regulatory Innovation Office, signalling that government is serious about agile regulation.

Meanwhile at Space Comm Expo, speeches from leaders like Josh Broom (Head of Sapce, Department for Business and Trade) and Tobias Lin (Capability Strategy Lead, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) reminded us of the sector’s volatility - and the need for the UK to build adaptive capabilities; we can afford to be creative in terms of national ownership of enterprises as long as we are delivering those capabilities. 

3. Supply Chains, Scaling Up, and Finding a Niche

Many small and medium-sized enterprises were represented at both events, reflecting falling barriers to entry in space tech. Farnborough added useful insights on how the UK can scale this momentum. Chris White-Horne, Deputy CEO of UKSA, and others spoke about the need to 'find and own' niche areas of the supply chain - understanding where the UK or others fill the gaps in the global supply chain is critical - no one country can do everything. And talking of niche, when asked what he'd like to take into space if he could, Chris White-Horne said "a plastic trombone" as an avid trombonist and as there's never been one out of our atmosphere!

Experts on commercial panels pointed out that the US has scale and marketing muscle - but Clint Clark from ExoAnalytics reiterated where the UK/Europe can be by understanding the place in the supply chain. The idea of building ‘front door’ space network - a UK version of American-style clusters/ incubators - was raised as a possible path to scale.

4. Financial Infrastructure Is Essential

A standout moment from the Space Comm Conference was a speech by Alderman Emma Edham of the City of London Corporation, in which she reminded us that without finance, nothing gets built. We might quibble that the latest industries have much lower barriers to entry than historical businesses - but her idea of a dedicated space financial hub was interesting and new. 

Farnborough reinforced this with a look at Space insurance (specifically SpaDRIBs - Space Debris Removal Investment Bonds) and noted a Space Investment Summit is planned for late 2025, backed by Seraphim and Barclays. This financial undercurrent could be key to unlocking growth.

5. Space Sustainability and Systemic Risk

Both conferences highlighted the growing urgency of space debris. Minister Kyle addressed this directly, as did several panels at Farnborough. This is an area The PSC know well - it is real, and a pure cost on the businesses we would like to grow as a nation - up to two-thirds of missions don't de-orbit properly - so it was great to see this being understood at a high level and commitment to both stopping the problem getting worse and to actively removing debris. There are calls for a National Index of Space Debris to assign accountability using physics-based algorithms, and the idea of an independent body to take debris management out of operators' hands was floated.

In addition to debris, space weather emerged as a serious and underestimated risk. Experts discussed scenarios like a modern-day Carrington Event, which could cause $11 trillion in damage over five years. Combine that with GPS spoofing and data disruptions seen in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the cascading risk to global systems becomes clear. Calls were made for better international coordination on Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Space Traffic Management (STM) - but the consensus was that waiting for a global agreement isn’t viable. Action is needed now.

Overall, these events painted a dynamic picture of the UK’s space future: increasingly strategic, highly collaborative, and very aware of the challenges ahead - from finance and regulation to debris and disaster resilience. The question now is how quickly we can move from insight to implementation.

Want to find out more about how Space and Satellites contribute to life on Earth? The PSC have just released a series of 5 podcast episodes on 'Space for Growth', in which we are joined by experts to discuss the role that the industry plays in contributing to the government's industrial strategy, Invest 2035 - particularly within the digital and technology, defence, and advanced manufacturing sectors. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!