Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in the UK military space sector; and how many people in the UK military space sector were involved in satellite design as of 16 February 2024.

The space sector is important for the UK, adding £7 billion to the economy in 2022. In that year, the sector employed 48,800 people, increasing from 47,000 the previous year. Many of these jobs work on a range of activities, both civil and military, for governments and a range of other customers. Defence accounts for an estimated 10.2% of total space industry income in 2022 and continues to be a significant part of government's support to the sector. The Skynet secure satellite communications programme, where we are investing £5 billion over the next decade, has provided a significant boost to the UK space sector. In the initial stage of the next generation of Skynet alone we have created up to 600 jobs. Defence has also committed £1.4 billion over 10 years to deliver cutting edge space technology, including a multi-satellite system known as ISTARI which is supporting high tech jobs in the UK as a world leader in science. We will continue to support growth in the space sector, including through the upcoming plan for the space sector which will be published in the coming months by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in close consultation with Defence, which will increase growth and resilience for this vital part of the economy.