On his visit, Minister Freer saw many great examples of exporting success stories and how, from the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, the UK space sector is making exports and investment into this important sector easier. The Minister visited Oxford Space Systems, seeing first hand how their pioneering work has made them one of the global leading exporters in deployable space antennas.

At Harwell, academia, Government, and industry are working together to solve the critical problems facing our planet. A unique combination of world-leading research and technology facilities mean teams and businesses are able to reach their full potential.

Today, the Harwell Space Cluster forms an integral part of the UK’s space sector and has grown into a dynamic, enterprising ecosystem of 105 space organisations employing over 1,100 people.

At the gravitational heart of the cluster is RAL Space. With more than 50 years of expertise, it has flown over 210 instruments into space, including the Gaia Spacecraft, surveying a billion stars in our galaxy since 2013. The European Space Agency (ESA) established a major hub for satellite communications at Harwell in 2009, with other core organisations including the UK Space Agency, the ESA Business Incubation Centre, the Satellite Applications Catapult, and Astroscale – a leading company tackling the critical problem of space debris.