Space is a rapidly growing industry, even in this period of economic difficulty, with great potential to contribute positively to the future U.K.'s economy especially in the area of small satellites, as the Minister noted during his announcement yesterday. SSTL hopes the new agency will be the conduit for further government initiatives such as MOSAIC, the seed-corn technology funding which has underpinned many of SSTL's recent missions, and which has shown a 12:1 return on initial investment.
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, SSTL's founder and Executive Chairman, commented "The U.K. has a thriving but little-known space industry and, over the last decade, space has been an increasingly critical component of our everyday lives. To raise the profile of space in the U.K., the new agency will need to be the focus for programs that will play to U.K. strengths, bring benefit to the tax-payer and fire the imagination of young people. The current government Innovation and Growth Team activity with U.K. industry has identified several new ideas with business potential, such as satellite broadband Internet provision, constellations of small remote sensing satellites and inspirational concepts such as Virgin Galactic's manned Spaceship Two, and the U.K. MoonLITE lunar mission. These all point to a vibrant future for U.K. Space."