Stevenage’s new town in Hertfordshire has a secret that may surprise visitors. The “Mars Yard” is a hidden room on an industrial estate nearby, filled with rocks and red sand to simulate the surface of Mars.
Airbus, the French aerospace giant, is testing ExoMars here. The rover will launch in 2028 to search for signs of water on Mars. The mission was delayed after Russia was kicked out of the program following the outbreak in the Ukraine War.
This delay is a positive for Airbus. It employs 3,500 people in the UK alone in the space industry. Airbus will sign a contract soon with the European Space Agency to manufacture thrusters for the Russian-supplied landing module.
Chris Draper is the exploration rovers program manager at Airbus. We’ve built the rover in Stevenage and will now play a major role in designing the lander so that she can reach the surface safely.
The 21st century space race is accelerating. Nasa plans to send humans to the moon again in 2026. China, Japan and India are vying for a piece of the new lunar economic pie. The United Arab Emirates already sent a unmanned mission to Mars.
despite having no space program and no launch capability, the UK is now trying to get in on the action. According to a PwC study, the UK has received 17 percent of private investment worldwide in the space industry since 2015. The United States is the only other country that receives more.
1,591 UK companies and organisations are already contributing to this sector. They are not limited to London, Oxford, and Cambridge but have sprung up everywhere from Stevenage, Rotherham, and Cardiff. They employ 50,000 people, and they contribute £17.5billion to the economy each year.
Airbus UK employs 3500 people in its space sector
This is partly due to the UK’s scientific research and Cold War Rocketry. Mark Boggett is the chief executive of Seraphim Trust, which invests in start-ups in space. He said that since then, “the UK has played a major part in international space missions”. “We have world-class universities. We have Europe’s largest Venture Capital Community, which can support the space business.
Andrew Griffith, space minister, stated: “I do not see any reason why British companies should not be at the forefront of efforts in building a new space economy.”
What role will Britain have when the US prepares to send astronauts beyond the moon?
The UK will excel in cleaning up after larger players. Around the globe, there are an estimated 130 million pieces space junk including rocket fragments and old satellites.
Paul Bate is the chief executive of UK Space Agency. He said that with the increasing number of spacecraft, it was vital to develop operational services to track them and monitor their movements. Airbus, ClearSpace and Astroscale are all designing spacecrafts to remove abandoned objects from space.
British companies are looking at the possibility of servicing satellites as they orbit the Earth. This market is expected to reach £11 billion in 2031.
For many, the holy grail is to launch satellites from UK land. This feat has never been achieved before. Virgin Orbit’s much-heralded attempt in Cornwall last year ended in failure.
Virgin focused on “horizontal” launches on the 747. A number of companies have chosen to pursue more traditional “vertical launches” on rockets. Orbex, a new start-up on the Moray Coast in Scotland, plans to launch 20-metre rockets from Sutherland. Phil Chambers said that if you want to launch rockets, you should look for an area with as few people around as possible.
Skyrora of Glasgow, who wants to launch rockets from the SaxaVord Spaceport on the Shetland islands is another contender. It aims to launch either this year or in the next.
Lockheed Martin, a US giant that manufactures the F-35 fighter plane, could beat both firms to the punch. The company also plans to launch its rockets from SaxaVord. Nik Smith said that adding “sovereign space access” would be a crucial addition to the UK’s capability. Lockheed is in the running for Skynet 6 military space satellites, a reminder that defense remains a major part of spending on space.
Engineers are manufacturing springs in a factory located in Bromley (Kent). They are not any springs. These are springs of the highest quality, precision-built and made with only the finest materials. European Springs and Pressings, which has supplied the aerospace and defence industries for over 70 years, is now targeting the space industry. The company’s reputation for quality is its main selling point. You can’t just pop up in space to fix a broken piece if you have sent a satellite there.
On an industrial estate in South Yorkshire, more than 170 miles to the north, a team extracts oxygen from rock lumps. Metalysis was created by Cambridge academics at the end of 1990s, after they figured out how to use electrodelysis to extract valuable metals from rocks. One of the products is oxygen. Esa contracted the company to adapt their technology for use on the moon rock with the ultimate aim of providing breathable oxygen to astronauts.
Many of the 50 employees are former steelworkers, which was once the dominant industry of the region. Metalysis’ managing directors Ian Mellor and David Smith said this was one of the factors that brought the company to the area: “The skilled workforce, who know how to operate high-temperature kilns, is what we are really looking for.”
Space Forge, in Cardiff, plans to launch a mini-factory into space within the next few weeks. The semiconductor maker hopes to create ultrapure crystals in zero gravity for highly efficient computer chips. Once the factory is done, it will be destroyed in orbit. In 2026, Space Forge’s next spacecraft will return to Earth where crystals can be recovered. Joshua Western, co-founder of the company, described how it will retrieve its craft as “Mary Poppins in space”. It is a space-grade canopy that allows us to float home.
Space Solar in Harwell, Oxfordshire is perhaps Britain’s biggest extraterrestrial venture. The two-year old start-up wants huge solar panels 1.7 km wide and 4 km tall to be sent into space, then beam power back to Earth using microwaves.
The panels will be assembled on site and sent into orbit in small batches, where they will receive 24-hour sunshine. According to Martin Soltau, the beams can be sent to any receiving station in the world at a much lower cost than current power generation.
Smith, of Lockheed, said that while the future for UK space is bright, there will be risks. Many other countries have realized the benefits of having their own space industry. He said that we must ensure that we are competitive globally. Bate, of the UK Space Agency said: “Daily Life is Now Very Dependent on Space.” Satellites are used to forecast weather, keep people in touch, monitor the environment, and protect critical infrastructure.
Although it may seem like science fiction, we have already entered the space age.