Why Britain can win big by betting on the new space race

Britain and space exploration hardly sound like natural bedfellows.

- Will Rogers-Coltman

In fact, many may be surprised to hear that Britain has a space programme at all: the UK Space Agency, which, led by CEO Dr Paul Bate, has ambitions of making the country one of the world’s leading space economies. Despite the public’s perception, Will Whitehorn, the former president of Virgin Galactic, is truly optimistic about this mission.

“The UK space tech industry makes up 7 per cent of the global market,” Whitehorn says, “but far more importantly, we have some of the greatest minds in the industry and a fantastic technological heritage. You would be hard-pressed to find a space mission that hasn't got a bit of tech invented by a British company.” Take the Artemis mission, where Thales Alenia Space UK is making the refuelling module for the Lunar Gateway — a space station that will orbit the moon. Since Donald Trump's re-election in November, space exploration has been thrust back to the top of the global agenda, with the president announcing at his inauguration that planting flags on Mars was part of their “manifest destiny”.