Space Skills Roadmap 2030

Summary

26 recommendations to tackle the space skills gap over the next five years.

1 Improve the public perception of space

1.1 Stop emphasising astronauts and launch

By primarily promoting astronauts and rockets, the sector misleads people about what working in space is like. The sector should showcase more common jobs instead. Learn more...

1.2 Emphasise jobs and climate change

The public are associating space with billionaires, pollution, and waste. Emphasising the jobs it creates and its value in understanding and addressing climate change will help attract more people. Learn more...

1.3 Allow UK Space Agency graphics to be widely used

Everyone who wears a NASA hoodie becomes a walking advertisement for the agency and its work, both in the US and around the world. The UK Space Agency should do the same. Learn more...

1.4 Engage with social media influencers

Social media and influencers are an underutilised resource. Space organisations should engage with them to improve coverage of space. Learn more...

1.5 Invest in better space representation in media

Outreach activities have focused on events and resources for schools. Outreach funders should invest more in books, television, and films which are highly effective and have a very broad reach. Learn more...

2 Make routes into space visible and accessible

2.1 Conduct a national advertising campaign

The public have a poor understanding of the sector. A national marketing campaign would broaden awareness and attract career changers. Learn more...

2.2 Create a single central resource for space careers information

A single brand and central signposting website that is the public face of space careers will make routes into space clearer and more accessible. Learn more...

2.3 Improve the representation of space on the National Careers Service

The NCS has a very poor coverage of space. UKSA should engage with its colleagues in the Department for Education to improve this. Learn more...

2.4 Develop pathways and training for career changers

Clear pathways and resources for career changers will make it easier for experienced people to join the space sector from other sectors. Learn more...

2.5 Engage with electronic engineers and computer scientists

There is a significant and growing shortage of software and electronics skills. The sector needs to do more to engage with student groups and professional organisations in this area. Learn more...

2.6 Create a no wrong door service

Rather than turning away capable but initially unsuccessful candidates, employers should work together to ensure they end up in the sector. Learn more...

3 Continue to support young people’s career development

3.1 Continue to support young people in gaining experience

UKSEDS, SPIN, Prospero, and others create important opportunities to gain technical and business experience. The sector should support and expand these programmes. Learn more...

3.2 Continue to support schools and teachers

The sector should support ESERO, the National Space Academy, and others, as well as the IOP’s efforts to address teacher recruitment challenges. Learn more...

4 Break down opportunity barriers

4.1 Improve inclusivity and accessibility

Addressing stereotypes and discrimination and supporting wider STEM initiatives will help the sector attract and retain people, particularly from marginalised groups. Learn more...

4.2 Lobby for more housing and better transport links

If people cannot live near space clusters and reliably get to work, they cannot work in space. The sector should be adding its voice to the growing calls to build more homes and transport links. Learn more...

4.3 Make recruitment blind and skills-based

Blind and skills-based recruiting reduces bias and expands the pool of applications to include people from non-traditional routes. Learn more...

5 Better align training with employer needs

5.1 Expand data gathering about current and future demand

The Space Sector Skills Survey should be complemented by other sources of data. Learn more...

5.2 Create networks of excellence for space FE and training providers

Joined-up networks of post-16 education providers will help improve the quality of training and make it easier for employers to engage with. Learn more...

5.3 Develop a toolkit to help employers engage with skills activities

A simple toolkit will make it easier for employers to engage effectively with the education system. Learn more...

5.4 Introduce advance market commitments for training

AMCs provide a mechanism for creating training that otherwise would be risky without relying on government funding. Learn more...

6 Ensure space careers are attractive and rewarding

6.1 Increase salaries

Space sector salaries are too low and must increase if they are to remain competitive with other STEM sectors. Learn more...

6.2 Improve job adverts and recruitment systems

Bad job adverts deter good candidates. Many space job adverts are unclear and uninspiring and could be significantly improved. Learn more...

6.3 Create opportunities for future leaders to develop

New support programmes will help mid-level professionals become the senior leaders the sector is struggling to recruit. Learn more...

7 Improve skills intelligence and coordination

7.1 Create a space skills data hub

A data hub would provide a central location for joined up skills, recruitment, economics, and strategy data in accessible and useful formats. Learn more...

7.2 Harmonise survey questions and categories

Harmonised standards will make datasets more comparable and compatible, and offer more value to users of the data. Learn more...

7.3 Create a space skills delivery body

Skills leadership in the space sector is currently unclear. An independent body, either run by or answering directly to industry, should be coordinating skills activities to maximise their impact. Learn more...

Introduction

Skills gaps are one of the UK space industry’s biggest and most pressing barriers to growth.

Space has made a huge amount of progress in recent years in creating skills infrastructure and moving from discussion about problems to discussion about solutions. Growth is no longer hampered by a scarcity of graduates, there is a huge range of high-quality careers resources and outreach activities, and a much better understanding of the sector’s demographics and skills needs.

This roadmap sets out what the space sector needs to do next. It is based on our research over the past five years, discussions with employers, educators, policymakers, job seekers, students, and others, as well as initiatives that we’ve seen work in other sectors. The roadmap also addresses the priorities laid out in the Space Industrial Plan’s four skills missions to 2030:

1. Grow the overall space sector workforce, building on wider national efforts to strengthen our Science and Technology workforce, and developing the skills and experience needed for more specialised space careers.
2. Support the sector to address recruitment and retention challenges, ensuring there are sufficient visible and accessible routes into attractive, rewarding career pathways for people of all skillsets, backgrounds and experience levels.
3. Increase access to high-quality, accessible, space training that is responsive to the changing needs of the sector and individuals within it, ensuring everyone (inside and outside of the space sector) can upskill or retrain throughout their career.
4. Expand opportunities for participation in the space sector, engaging with people from underrepresented groups across the UK, to encourage future careers in space and ensure a more diverse range of people enter the space workforce.

Space Industrial Plan 1

Our recommendations build on and incorporate the five solutions we set out in 2022, and look not just at how people gain skills, but also how they become aware of the space sector and motivated to join it, and the barriers they face along the way.

Where we have the expertise, we will take the lead, but progress on these problems requires a concerted effort from the whole sector. We invite all organisations working in space to work with us in shaping and delivering this roadmap.

Recommendations

1 Improve the public perception of space

The public have a poor understanding of what the space sector is and who can work here. To increase public support for space and attract a more diverse range of people to the sector, the whole sector needs to change the way they talk about space and engage with the public in new ways.

1.1 Stop emphasising astronauts and launch

The whole sector needs to stop using rockets and astronauts as its primary way of representing the sector.

90% of children already know that being an astronaut is a space career 2. ESA received 23,000 applications for the 5 positions in its 2022 astronaut group 3. No further work is necessary to promote astronaut as a career.

The UK Space Agency’s Space for Everyone tour took a 72 foot replica rocket around the country and featured outreach staff in astronaut outfits 4. The UK Space Agency has not posted about Earth observation on Instagram since October 2023. It has made 21 posts about astronauts in the same time 5. UKspace’s #ThanksSpace social media campaign features an astronaut as its mascot 6.

By constantly showcasing astronauts and rockets, the sector misleads people about what working in space is like, and exacerbates concerns about the environmental impact of space activities. This ultimately makes them less likely to consider a career in space. Instead, the emphasis should be on the impact of space technology to life on Earth and the protection of the planet. The sector should showcase jobs that are much more common in the sector. In place of a rocket, the Space for Everyone tour could have included a satellite and a ground station.

The space sector should copy the approach of the Royal Air Force, which in 2009 ran an advertising campaign with the slogan ‘You don't have to be a pilot to fly in the RAF’ in order to highlight the non-pilot roles that make up 94% of its workforce 7.

This is a change the whole sector needs to make, but is particularly important for organisations working with the public and young people. By the end of 2025 publicity materials should be updated to de-emphasise astronauts and launch.

1.2 Emphasise jobs and climate change

The public often think of space as a waste of money, and increasingly associate it with billionaires. A survey in Cornwall shortly before the Virgin Orbit launch found that many residents saw space as “a playground for the rich and famous” that the region “should have nothing to do with” 8. There is also growing public opposition to the use of UK spaceports for space tourism on environmental grounds 910, most notably voiced by Prince William who said that people should be “focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space” 11.

The sector needs to be emphasising the benefits of space to the UK, the job opportunities the sector creates, particularly in communities like Cornwall and Scotland where space facilities are being built, and the role that space plays in efforts to understand and address climate change. Young people consider the social impact of their work to be an increasingly important factor when deciding where to work 12. Space companies such as Space Forge and Astroscale whose promotional materials have focused on sustainability and the benefits of their work to the Earth report having a much greater number of job applicants.

This approach is also likely to appeal to the new government whose focus is on economic growth, skills, and addressing climate change.

This should be a concerted effort by outreach providers and employers to refocus their materials on climate change. UKspace could also proactively engage with media organisations to put a space-spin on climate stories, and a climate-spin on space stories. By the end of 2025, publicity materials should be updated to emphasise jobs and climate change.

1.3 Allow UK Space Agency graphics to be widely used

NASA-branded clothing is available in the UK from a wide range of high-street retailers from Primark to John Lewis. It has been worn by celebrities and on catwalks. Everyone who wears a NASA hoodie becomes a walking advertisement for the agency and its work, both in the US and around the world.

ESA and the UK Space Agency are a very long way behind. There is no UK Space Agency branded clothing, and ESA is the only major retailer of ESA branded clothing. The Science Museum in London has an entire section of their shop dedicated to space, but the only space agency brand sold is NASA.

NASA imagery can be used for almost all commercial purposes without permission needing to be sought, and permission to use NASA’s logos is granted for a very wide range of purposes at no cost 13. ESA has made some initial steps to make it easier for manufacturers to use ESA’s logo 14, but still requires written authorisation for any commercial use 15. The UK Space Agency provides no information about the use of its logo or imagery.

The UK Space Agency and ESA should take a highly permissive approach to image and logo licensing, making use of Creative Commons and Open Government licences wherever possible to encourage widespread usage.

The UK Space Agency’s logo is better than ESA’s, and it has the potential to be adopted as a symbol of national pride. More permissive branding combined with some commercial and influencer partnerships (such as sending UKSA branded tops to British celebrities and influencers) would significantly enhance the profile of the UK Space Agency and the UK space sector.

By the end of 2026, the UK Space Agency should publish guidelines and adopt a permissive licence for its logo.

1.4 Invest in better space representation in media

The sector’s outreach activities have focused on events and resources for schools. Books, television, and other media have received far less focus and funding. This needs to change.

In the 2020 Space Census, 36% of people in the space workforce said they got into space because of books and 30% said TV. Among under 35s, 32% were inspired by things they saw on the internet. By comparison schools and teachers were cited by 24% of people. 17

The UK Space Agency and other organisations funding careers awareness activities should be investing in improving the realistic representation of the space sector in TV shows, films, computer games, and books. This could include supporting the development of space-focused media as well as encouraging non-space media to include characters, locations, and storylines related to space. ESA has partnered with the Apple TV show Constellation to include characters employed by ESA and film at ESA locations 16.

Engagement with large media organisations should be coordinated by UKspace, the UK Space Agency, and learned societies.

By the end of 2028, at least one major work and several smaller works (film, TV show, book, game) should include references to the UK space sector.

1.5 Engage with social media influencers

Social media and influencers are an underutilised resource. On TikTok the Royal Society of Chemistry has 27,000 followers 18, the Royal Aeronautical Society and UK Space Agency together have 24 (not 24,000) 1920.

On YouTube there has been very little coverage of the UK space sector outside of astronomy. BAFTA-award winning British science presenter Maddie Moate has six videos about space, all on American topics 21. Space sector organisations should offer influential YouTubers such as Moate the opportunity to visit UK space sites and make videos about the sector. US-focused channels such as Smarter Every Day and Practical Engineering have partnered with NASA, the US Navy, Kodak, and others to showcase the work these organisations are doing and inspire people into science and engineering.

Increased engagement should include a mix of space organisations increasing their own social media presence and social media influencers increasing their space coverage. This could be done on a more ad-hoc basis by individual organisations, but with UKspace providing a landing page or directory for those wanting to engage in this way with the space sector.

By the end of 2026, at least one major influencer (with more than 250,000 followers) on each of YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok should have produced a video about the UK space sector.

2 Make routes into space visible and accessible

Routes into the sector need to be clear and accessible, for both young people and career changers, and the sector needs to ensure that they are not turning good candidates away.

2.1 Conduct a national advertising campaign

The public have a poor understanding of the space sector and the applicability of their skills to it. To broaden awareness and attract career changers, the sector should engage in a large-scale marketing campaign. This work should be done in concert with the development of a central careers resource.

Earlier this year the nuclear sector launched the Destination Nuclear campaign, which focused on attracting experienced people to switch to nuclear from other industries and fill critical skills gaps 22. The campaign was supported by 26 organisations and included online, billboard, radio, and social media adverts, all directed to a website with a jobs portal. Within six weeks, more than 5000 people had started applications. The total cost was about £400,000, split between industry and relevant government agencies 23.

This work will require a high level of coordination and must be a collaborative effort between industry and government. It should be led by a credible and neutral national organisation such as UKspace, UK Space Agency, Space Partnership, or Space Skills Alliance, or a new space skills delivery body, and funded primarily by industry.

By the end of 2029, the UK space sector should conduct a national advertising campaign similar to Destination Nuclear.

2.2 Create a single central resource for space careers information

The space sector should unify behind a single brand and central signposting website that is the public face of careers in the sector. Other sectors have done this successfully: nuclear has Destination Nuclear, rails has Routes into Rail, and teaching has Get Into Teaching.

When individual organisations do outreach and attend careers events they should promote the space brand alongside their own. Competing projects such as Destination Space and I'm a Space Person should be subsumed to reduce duplication and confusion.

SpaceCareers.uk is the obvious starting point for this. It has been running for almost 10 years, already has good brand recognition, and reaches more than 12,000 people a month. It is operated by a not-for-profit and has been supported in its development by the UK Space Agency.

SpaceCareers.uk has some areas to improve on and needs a sustainable business model. In particular it still focuses primarily on early careers, but its resources for career changers have been expanding, and with further support it can be fully representative of the industry.

This central brand should be operated by a consortium of careers and education organisations, led by SpaceCareers.uk, given long-term funding by UK Space Agency and industry, and supported by a cross-industry steering group.

By the end of 2026, Destination Space and I'm a Space Person should be folded into SpaceCareers.uk, and SpaceCareers.uk should have a long term strategy and funding model supported by industry.

2.3 Improve the representation of space on the National Careers Service

The National Careers Service is the government’s central careers service. It is linked to by a wide range of organisations providing careers advice and supports millions of people every year, but it does not adequately represent the space sector.

The first result when searching for ‘space’ is astronaut. The second is gardener. Aerospace engineer is on the second page, after highways cleaner and advertising media buyer. ‘rocket’ returns no results. The first result for ‘satellite’ is satellite engineer, meaning those who install and repair telecoms equipment.

The UK Space Agency needs to engage with its colleagues in the Department for Education to ensure that space sector roles are properly represented on the National Careers Service and link to resources already available on SpaceCareers.uk.

By the end of 2025, searching for ‘space’, ‘satellite’, and other related terms should surface space sector results first and foremost, and the profiles should include links to relevant space sector resources.

2.4 Develop pathways and training for career changers

It’s hard for experienced people to join the space sector from other sectors. It shouldn’t be. Law conversion courses are commonplace, and organisations like NowTeach make it easy for career changers to transition into teaching. The space sector should learn from them.

The whole sector should work together to make pathways clear for career changers, expanding careers resources beyond early careers, and creating support networks for career changers equivalent to ‘NextGen’ and ‘Young Professionals’ groups.

Education and training providers should develop and deliver conversion courses designed to help people currently working in adjacent sectors understand space and how they can apply their skills here. These should be supported by government and industry.

The programmes supported by the UK Space Agency’s recent Training Programmes Fund are a good first step, as is a new military to space career transition programme for Cornwall 24. UKspace has also partnered with Redeployable, a service that helps military veterans find new jobs 25. The scale and scope of these programmes should be expanded.

SpaceCareers.uk and other providers of careers resources should make pathways for career changers clearer. The UK Space Agency should widen the scope of its Space for All funding to support activities related to career changers, learned societies should develop support networks for them, and training providers should develop suitable courses. These activities and provision of training courses do not necessarily need to be highly coordinated.

By the end of 2027, the sector should have a central career changers landing page, at least one course specifically designed for and marketed at career changers, and a professional support network for career changers.

2.5 Engage with electronic engineers and computer scientists

Software and electronics skills make up 6 of the top 10 skills gaps in the sector and demand for them is set to increase 26. Software and electronics roles together make up 36% of open vacancies in the space sector and are the most difficult to recruit for 2627. This is despite offering much higher average salaries than aerospace engineering roles 17.

The space sector urgently needs to do more to engage with those with software and electronics skills, to attract them to the space sector or face further skills shortages. The number of computing and electronics graduates in the sector is dropping. Among over 35s, 7% studied computer science and 12% studied electronic engineering, compared to just 4% and 6% of under 35s 17. Preliminary findings from the 2024 Space Census suggest that these numbers have dropped even further.

UKSEDS is well placed to coordinate engagement by industry with students. They have already done a great deal to increase the number of young physicists and aerospace engineers entering the sector, but their engagement with other disciplines has been much lower. Industry or government should fund them to specifically engage with computing and electronics students, and should coordinate getting space industry representatives at events for these students. UKspace should also collaborate with organisations like the IET, BCS, and techUK to spread awareness of the space sector and support work to increase uptake in these subjects.

By the end of 2026, UKSEDS should have engaged with at least 10 electronics or computing societies, and have an industry supported competition specifically for electronics and computing students. UKspace should have engaged with the IET, BCS, and techUK to organise at least 4 joint events, publications, or activities.

2.6 Create a no wrong door service

Jobs at higher profile space employers often receive many more qualified applicants than are needed. This means that they are forced to turn away people who would be an asset to the sector. Many of those people will try again at another company, but others will be disheartened and will look to other sectors instead.

A ‘no wrong door’ service would channel capable but initially unsuccessful candidates to companies that are having a harder time recruiting. This service could also include a mechanism for candidates to make an open application to the sector as a whole, which would particularly support career changers unsure about where they would best fit in the industry. Providing this service would require collaboration between companies and coordination by a neutral third party.

This idea has already been taken up by the rail sector 28, and similar models exist for university clearing and Oxbridge college pooling.

This work would require a lot of coordination and employer involvement. It could initially be done by regional clusters or for specific types of roles, and gradually scaled up. The infrastructure that the Satellite Applications Catapult has already created to coordinate the SPIN programme could be expanded to support this service.

By the end of 2029, there should be research on whether this would be feasible for the sector, and if so a pilot scheme that has served at least 20 candidates.

3 Continue to support young people’s career development

While the sector receives a good level of interest from young people, particularly graduates, it is important not to stop doing work in this area, and to continue to support impactful projects that support young people and schools.

3.1 Continue to support young people in gaining experience

A lot of work has been done over the past few years to increase the number of opportunities for young people to gain technical and business experience alongside their studies, including UKSEDS events and competitions, the SPIN programme, and the Prospero fellowship. Preliminary findings from the 2024 Space Census suggest that student societies are about as common a route into the sector as internships and grad schemes, but are much cheaper to run.

These programmes need to continue to be supported with both long-term funding and industry engagement, and further developed and expanded so they can reach more people and can adapt to the changing needs of the sector.

By the end of 2026, there should be a commitment from either industry or government to fund and support UKSEDS, SPIN, and Prospero through at least 2030.

3.2 Continue to support schools and teachers

The space sector should continue to support the activities of ESERO, the National Space Academy, and other outreach providers to engage with school children, teachers, and families to build awareness of space and an interest and proficiency in maths and science generally. Resources should be focused on the most effective forms of long-term repeated interventions that align with the curriculum and do not add to teachers’ burdens 32.

A major challenge in school STEM education is the lack of maths, physics, and computer science teachers. The government consistently misses its recruitment targets for these core subjects and struggles to retain teachers 33. The space sector should support the work of the IOP and others in addressing these recruitment challenges.

By the end of 2026, there should be a commitment from the UK Space Agency to fund ESERO and the National Space Academy to at least 2030.

4 Break down opportunity barriers

The UK space workforce is not representative of the diversity of the population, but it is improving. To make further progress, the sector needs to adopt recruitment and inclusivity best practices, and address legal and physical barriers that prevent people joining the sector.

4.1 Improve inclusivity and accessibility

Stereotypes about who can work in space deter people from applying. Dropping language about hiring ‘the best’ and making sure that careers resources do not over-emphasise any particular demographic or background will help to address this.

As the sector primarily recruits people with STEM backgrounds, its demographics are largely downstream of those choosing to study STEM subjects at university and in school. The sector should continue to support initiatives to make these subjects more inclusive and accessible at all levels, partnering with other sectors wherever possible to maximise impact.

Once in the sector, underrepresented and marginalised groups must be treated well. 47% of women feel ‘always welcome’ in the sector, compared to 79% of men 29. There must be zero tolerance for bullying, harassment, or discrimination so that nobody feels excluded.

All space conferences should be accessible, aim for diversity among speakers, and put in place and enforce codes of conduct. Major events should also support working parents with provision of crèches and other facilities. The IAC offers a nursery 30, and the National Astronomy Meeting offers grants to cover additional care costs 31. UK Space Conference, Farnborough Space Show, and Space-Comm Expo offer nothing.

The whole sector can take action here, but specifically employers can make changes internally, and organisers of major conferences, such as UK Space Agency and UKspace, can lead the way in creating inclusive and accessible events.

By the end of 2028, the UK Space Conference, Farnborough Space Show, and Space-Comm Expo should have codes of conduct in place, and offer crèches or similar facilities. The 2028 Space Census should show an improvement in the number of women who feel welcome in the sector.

4.2 Make recruitment blind and skills-based

Some capable applicants to space sector jobs are currently being excluded because of unconscious biases and restrictive hiring practices. The space sector should be open to people they have not considered before.

Employers should be open to recruiting people with non-traditional backgrounds, focusing on testing applicants’ skills through targeted questions and work tasks rather than being prescriptive about traditional qualifications and pathways. Assessing applications without knowing the name, gender, or other personal attributes of the candidates reduces bias in recruitment and helps underrepresented groups get into the sector. The Space Placements in Industry programme has seen good results from this approach:

For the SPIN Programme 2024, we rolled out the use of an unbiased application platform across our host companies. The SPINterns hired as a result proved this method to be a success, representing a huge range of backgrounds in race, gender and age, and producing projects which showcased innovation and diversity of thought.

Vicky Jewell, Skills Lead, Satellite Applications Catapult

The Space Recruitment Toolkit by Space Skills Alliance already provides practical advice about how to adopt many of these best practices.

By the end of 2027, all major space employers should be using a blind and skills-based recruitment process.

4.3 Lobby for more housing and better transport links

The house crisis is a space skills problem. If people cannot live near space clusters and reliably get to work, they cannot work in the space sector, especially those starting their careers.

Anyone trying to come into Cornwall really struggles due to the housing crisis down here. We've tried so much to help. We've house hunted on their behalf, we've got in touch with estate agents & landlords, just so employees could find somewhere to live to be able to work for us.

Felicity Searle, HR & Finance Manager, Piran Advanced Composites

This problem is well beyond the scope of the sector to solve alone, but the new Labour government has already announced that it intends to make housebuilding a priority, and will need support to make this a reality. The space sector should be adding its voice, through UKspace, to the growing calls for government action to build more homes and better transport links. This is especially something that regional space clusters should be calling for.

By the end of 2025, UKspace should have published a briefing paper supporting housebuilding and transport structure initiatives.

5 Align training with employer needs

The vast majority of space employers are engaged with education providers such as schools, colleges, and universities, but there is sometimes a mismatch between the skills the industry needs and those taught on courses. The sector needs to make sure that there is high-quality, accessible, space training that is responsive to the changing needs of the sector.

5.1 Expand data gathering about current and future demand

Up-to-date information about the sector’s skills gaps is key to ensuring that training meets the needs of employers. The Space Sector Skills Survey provides some of this, but could be improved to better support training providers. The survey primarily focused on current challenges but this needs to be extended to the future through foresighting work so that the sector is not just responding to skills issues today, but also preparing for future needs.

It is important that the survey is not the only source of this information. The sector should also look at other ways of collecting and combining data to understand the skills picture (see section below on skills intelligence and coordination).

By the end of 2028, the Space Sector Skills survey should not be the only major source of skills data, and there should be a forecast model for the future needs of the sector.

5.2 Create networks of excellence for space FE and training providers

The Space Universities Network (SUN) provides support and resources to space science and engineering lecturers in higher education, including course materials, exam questions, and a library of facilities and guest speakers. No similar space-focused network exists for further education or other training providers, making it difficult for these educators to learn from each other and collaborate with employers.

The sector should create networks of excellence for these organisations. These should work in close partnership with SUN to facilitate collaboration across the whole range of post-16 education and provide a single interface through which employers can offer their support and connect learning to real world applications and skills needs.

By the end of 2025, there should be networks similar to SUN for further education providers and training providers.

5.3 Develop a toolkit to help employers engage with skills activities

There is a wide range of ways that employers can usefully engage with skills activities, ranging from attending careers fairs and taking on interns through to support curriculum development and hosting teachers at their facilities. This breadth can be overwhelming, and many employers, particularly SMEs, find the education system confusing and struggle to find ways to engage effectively.

The shipbuilding industry has created a Toolkit for Employers that lays out clearly how employers can engage with educators, what careers initiatives they can get involved in, and how qualifications different in each of the four nations. The space sector should create a similar toolkit to make it easier for employers, especially SMEs, to engage.

By the end of 2024, there should be a toolkit to help employers engage with skills activities.

5.4 Introduce advance market commitments for training

Advance market commitments are promises to buy something in the future that doesn’t yet exist. Their purpose is to encourage development of that product by aggregating demand and reducing risk with a guarantee that there will be a market for the product once it’s created. They have been used very successfully to encourage the development of vaccines 34 and carbon removal projects 35.

AMCs give us a mechanism for creating training that otherwise would be risky or unprofitable without relying on government funding. For example, many space companies say they want to see more training for systems engineering. By committing to put people on a system engineering training programme once one has been set up, they incentivise training providers to create a course in it.

They can be used in conjunction with subsidies for training that is needed to deliver the national space capabilities and the Defence Highly Assured Technical Areas 36.

The first step would be to do some initial research into what training might best be enabled by AMCs, followed by work by industry and training providers to determine feasibility and set up a pilot scheme.

By the end of 2029, there should be research on whether this would be feasible for the sector, and if so a pilot scheme for at least one training course.

6 Ensure space careers are attractive and rewarding

Careers in space must be attractive and rewarding or the sector will lose good people to other sectors. Companies need to improve their recruitment processes, offer more competitive salaries, and ensure they are supporting people to develop in their space sector careers.

6.1 Increase salaries

Space sector salaries are too low and must increase if space is to remain competitive with other STEM sectors. The Space Sector Skills Survey found that uncompetitive pay is a major driver of difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, cited by 48% of employers 26.

The 2020 Space Census found that the tech sector pays on average £10,000 more than space 17. Previous research has shown that while very few (<1%) people, especially in their early career, were originally motivated by pay to join the space sector 26, it is an important factor in hiring more experienced professionals with skills sought after by other sectors.

By the end of 2028, space sector salaries should have increased in line with or above inflation, and the gap between space and tech sector salaries should have reduced by at least 10%.

6.2 Improve job adverts and recruitment systems

Bad job adverts deter good candidates. Many space job adverts are unclear and uninspiring, leaving candidates confused and demotivated. When candidates do choose to apply, they are often then subjected to frustrating application systems, and may decide that the job is not worth the effort.

Employers should review and improve their job adverts. There is a wealth of evidence on the impact that adopting recruitment best practices can have, and many of these are set out in the Space Recruitment Toolkit. For those companies new to hiring, business incubators should provide support for fledgling companies to start with good recruitment practices, alongside technology and funding opportunities.

Employers should also publish salaries because adverts with salaries get more higher quality applicants, and salary negotiation leads to systematically lower pay for women and minorities.

By the end of 2027, the job adverts of all major space employers should be scoring at least 70 against Space Skills Alliance’s 10 best practice criteria 37.

6.3 Create opportunities for future leaders to develop

The Space Sector Skills Survey found that more senior roles are harder to recruit for and take longer to fill 26. Retention in these roles is also a challenge, and lack of professional development opportunities is a key reason for this.

Many opportunities exist for young people to help get experience, but there is little support for mid-level professionals to help them become senior leaders. The space sector should look to create and support initiatives to support the development of future leaders.

These might include groups like the newly formed Young Space Exec Network that help young leaders develop their professional networks, or training courses like Brainsparker’s Space Leadership Programs designed to develop leadership skills, supported by learned societies.

Other sectors have recognised this need. The nuclear sector has plans to develop ‘a prestigious leadership development programme for future leaders to network, collaborate and experience working in different organisations and locations’ 38 and the transport sector intends to ‘create development programmes for senior managers in transport organisations that encompass design, innovation and leadership’. 39

By the end of 2027, there should be a sector-wide programme to support mid-level professionals to become senior leaders.

7 Improve skills intelligence and coordination

Addressing the sector’s skills challenges requires a proper understanding of those challenges. Regular data collection is key to this, but existing skills intelligence work could be more valuable if it were better coordinated and combined.

7.1 Create a space skills data hub

The amount of space skills and economic data being collected and published is increasing as the sector matures. It can be difficult to make sense of it all and to see how it relates to other data within the sector and from adjacent sectors. Often this data is locked in individual PDFs and no-one has an overview of how these different datasets link together.

A space skills data hub would provide a central location for joined up skills, recruitment, economics, and strategy data in accessible and useful formats. The data platform would also serve as an information archive so that data is not lost when organisations change their websites and remove old publications.

The National Skills Academy of Rail regularly collects and combines anonymised workforce data from employers in a centralised platform that identifies gaps, provides detailed insights on current and future workforce requirements, and allows the sector to model different scenarios. Other examples of data hubs include Data USA, Our World in Data, HESA, and the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Taking data from different reports and combining it to give one cohesive picture of skills issues across the country and over time will give a much richer understanding of where the problems are and how they might be addressed.

This is a project we intend to lead on, but we welcome collaboration with other organisations who can share data and insights.

By the end of 2026, there should be a data hub that combines data from Size & Health, Space Sector Skills Survey, and the Space Census in accessible formats.

7.2 Harmonise survey questions and categories

The space sector conducts an increasing number of surveys and other data collection exercises. Often these datasets use different definitions and ask the same questions in different ways, which makes them incompatible.

For example, the 2020 and 2021 Size & Health surveys claimed that Northern Ireland’s space workforce increased by 224% while the number of space organisations based there dropped by 18%. Between 2021 and 2022 the number of employees then dropped by 46% while the number of organisations increased by 37%. These wild and unrealistic variations from year to year make the data next to useless.

Organisations involved in space sector data collection should work together to develop harmonised standards so that datasets are more comparable and compatible, and offer more value to users of the data. This work could include agreeing compatible definitions and classifications, creating mappings between different taxonomies, and standardising wording for common questions. A similar exercise has been conducted within government by the Government Statistical Service 40. To reduce survey fatigue, some surveys could be combined or scheduled to reduce overlap.

Space Skills Alliance has led efforts to develop a standard taxonomy for space skills. These categories formed the basis of those used in the Space Sector Skills Survey, the Space Census, the Space Training Catalogue, and the EU’s European Taxonomy of Space Knowledge (EU-TaSK). It has also been mapped to other frameworks including the Space Apprenticeship standards and the international ESCO taxonomy.

By the end of 2026, there should be a harmonisation working group and a published set of core definitions and methodologies for measuring the space sector.

7.3 Create a space skills delivery body

Skills leadership in the space sector is currently unclear. The UK Space Agency previously set out skills strategies, but has not done so since 2016. 41 Some coordination is attempted through the Space Skills Advisory Panel (SSAP) 42 however it has no formal powers and its membership is limited.

A Space Workforce Action Plan was being authored by the UK Space Agency and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, supported by the Space Partnership. The previous government committed to publishing it before the end of July 2024 43, but the new government has postponed it while the new Skills England is being set up 44.

To maximise their impact, UK space skills activities must instead be led by an independent body, either run by or answering directly to industry. This body should focus on action, and there should be clear communication about the activities and responsibilities.

Space should learn from the nuclear sector, which has established a Nuclear Skills Delivery Group, a sector-led group of organisations responsible for delivering skills interventions and supporting collaboration across the UK.

By the end of 2026, there should be a space skills delivery body made up of skills delivery organisations (not just representatives of government and industry), with a clear mandate, a budget, and a public web presence.