Space Skills Alliance launches

The Space Skills Alliance, a new think-tank working to address the skills shortage in the space sector launched today at the UK Space Conference at the International Convention Centre Wales.

The organisation has been set up by Joseph Dudley and Heidi Thiemann, who previously created SpaceCareers.uk, an award-winning early careers jobs and advice website.

Earlier this year, the UK Space Agency published a report on the size and health of the the UK’s space industry. It found that more than half of large organisations in the space sector are worried about having access to skilled workers, and 40% of all organisations see recruitment as a major barrier to their growth.

The UK’s space sector is growing at a rate of more than 3% per annum, and has set the goal that it should have a global market share of 10% by 2030.

The new alliance aims to support this growth by developing a talent pipeline, ensuring that there is an ample supply of skilled workers to meet the sector's need. It says that this supply is currently held back by a lack of data and poor awareness of the space sector among students and workers in other sectors.

It intends to build an evidence base of data to inform decision‐making across the sector and to promote best practice in recruitment.

Joseph Dudley, Director of the Space Skills Alliance said:

This is a pivotal time for the UK space sector. We are at the beginning of a new space race. If the UK space sector is to hit its goal of having 10% of the global market share by 2030, it will need careful strategy, and crucially, a lot of highly skilled people. We are going to enable that by making sure the space sector has the best recruiting practices and the best career progression of any sector.