The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the nation’s civil space programme. The UKSA was established on 1 April 2010 and took over responsibility for all UK space activities from a number of other government bodies. Its headquarters is located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
The UKSA is responsible for ensuring that the UK maintains a strong capability in space science, technology and applications. It also promotes British participation in European and international collaborations, and coordinates research programmes to ensure maximum benefit to society and economic growth. In addition, the UKSA manages access to facilities such as satellites and ground stations on behalf of other government departments.
The agency has a £374 million annual budget, most of which is spent on purchasing services from commercial providers or through collaborative agreements with international partners. The remainder is used to fund UK-based research, development and innovation programmes aimed at maintaining Britain’s capabilities in key areas such as robotics, propulsion and communications.
In 2015/16 the agency will be supporting over 50 ongoing projects ranging from small technology demonstration missions to large international collaborations such as the ExoMars rover mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA). These projects are expected to generate around £1 billion of economic activity over their lifetime and create several thousand new jobs across the country.