Abolishing the UK Space Agency could be a mistake

Our Managing Director, Victoria Pearson, questions the wisdom of doing away with the face the UK's space programme shows the world.

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Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of The View from Space.

🇬🇧 The abolition of the UK Space Agency continues to divide commentators. Sonder’s Managing Director, Victoria Pearson, acknowledges in Space News that there are ‘compelling arguments’ for bringing the UKSA into the fold of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – but warns of a repeat of what happened to the country’s satellite launch programme:

‘When the U.K. scrapped its national satellite launch program in the 1970s, it set the country back decades. The Black Arrow program produced a small orbital launch vehicle which successfully put the satellite Prospero in orbit in October 1971. Shortly before the launch, the government had already decided to cut the program, citing cost; it would be cheaper, said the government, simply to ‘buy launches’ from the United States.

The result was that Britain became (and remains) the only country ever to have developed an indigenous orbital launch system and then abandoned it. Other nations — France, Japan, India — have acquired that ability, and continued to develop and maintain it. It’s not an accident that their aerospace industries have become major global players. …

As an independent entity, [the UKSA] has been able to speak with clarity and authority on its own behalf and behalf of the sector. That autonomy has signalled to the world that the U.K. takes space seriously — seriously enough to grant the sector its own decision-making power and a means of self-coordination and self-governance. As a communications professional, I’m conscious of how much image you present to the world matters. The government, I’m sure, is taking space as seriously as it was before — perhaps even more seriously. But it doesn’t look that way, and that has repercussions.’

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💰 In City A.M., Mark Wheatley of DWC argues that Britain is embroiled in a ‘shadow war’, and that satellites are being targeted. He and the Resilience Working Group – made up of financial companies, law firms, public affairs agencies, and communications consultancies (including our own) – have called on the City to help boost national security:

‘One of Russia’s first moves when it invaded Ukraine was to disable Viasat’s satellite communications. Since then, Chinese and Russian satellites have engaged in manoeuvres that look less like routine operations and more like sinister balletics in orbit: shadowing, approaching, probing Western assets. Space, once hailed as a shared domain of exploration, is now a contested frontier, fraught with risk.

These dangers are tests of our wider resolve and capability. Our government, like others, has been moved to act. The recent Strategic Defence Review and National Security Strategy, both excellent, paint a picture of our present circumstances and articulate a direction of travel. They provide context but also show ambition.

There have been spending pledges, too – but pitched to the medium and not the short term. Public finances are stretched; there is little public appetite for higher taxes and even less enthusiasm for directing them to defence. Borrowing is not an attractive option for the government. The threat is pressing, but funding lags behind.’

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🏆 FibreCoat, which discovered a way to coat fibres that slashed costs, weight and waste while increasing quality and sustainability, have been named alongside Siemens and SoundCloud as one of the world’s ‘Best Workplaces for Innovators’ by Fast Company. FibreCoat’s ultra-resilient advanced materials have widespread applications, such as protecting satellites from EMI, enemy radar and the harsh conditions of space:

‘Fast Company editors reviewed nearly 1,000 applications … This year’s list reveals that no single country has a monopoly on innovation: Employees at German engineering giant Siemens earned 2,900 patents last year; London-based software company Omnea encourages its staff to take two weeks each quarter to work from anywhere in the world; and Chicago-based Motorola Solutions, this year’s No. 1-ranked Best Workplace for Innovators, has invested $13 billion over the last decade to enhance AI-driven public safety tools. …

FibreCoat employs students from RWTH Aachen University, one of whom innovated a new product and went on to become R&D lead.’

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🛰️ Award-winning environmental and energy intelligence firm Kayrros, the team behind the ‘Gates of Hell’ exposé and the first company to track methane globally, have been monitoring China’s oil reserves from space. Here’s Bloomberg:

‘A network of coastal tanks and caverns built to help the country manage both availability and price volatility, China’s SPR has expanded swiftly in the past two decades as demand has grown. Adding to the limited disclosure, much of the oil can be from sanctioned countries such as Russia, Iran or Venezuela,

Antoine Halff, co-founder and chief analyst at geospatial analytics company Kayrros, estimates China’s SPR and commercial stocks climbed, respectively, to 415 million barrels and 780 million barrels as of early-September, rising close to 130 million barrels since late-March. That puts total above-ground capacity utilization at about 60.5%, he added, leaving space for further builds.

“This assumption of relatively high purchases makes sense. Number one, the Chinese focus on energy security. Second, prices are quite low in 2025 and 2026, and we think the market will tighten again from 2027 onward as non-OPEC supply slows down — so this is a window when you can stockpile at an attractive price,” Daan Struyven, head of oil research at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview. “Third, there’s a lot of storage room.”’

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📈 Finnish satellite manufacturer ReOrbit has raised a €45 million Series A – the largest of its kind for any space tech startup in Europe. ReOrbit, a dual-use company, manufactures satellites and connected software systems that give countries independent comms and intelligence capabilities, while enabling them to keep control of critical assets. Sifted reports:

‘Being based in the Nordics, it’s found, is a sweet spot for a manufacturer of strategically important technology.

“Nordic countries do not, in a good way, have the ambition to become a global power,” Saveda Suvanam says. “And we are hearing this repeatedly, that [customers] want to partner with neutral countries.” Despite having recently joined Nato, customers still perceive Sweden and Finland as neutral, he adds, since they “don't have explicit ambitions of controlling the world.”

“In today’s geopolitical environment, reliance on external parties is a risk no country can accept. [You] don't want to be caught between Trump and Xi Jinping.” This is also the reason why 97% of the capital in the Series A came from Nordic VCs and the rest from Germany.

“We were very clear that all of this money that we raised had to come from the Nordics,” Saveda Suvanum says.’

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🚀 The Standard reports that MPs are warning Scotland could miss out on a ‘generational’ opportunity to become a European leader in launches. A Westminster committee says fierce international competition and a lack of investment could scupper Scottish hopes of becoming the home of orbital satellite launches in Europe:

‘Shetland has the UK’s only licensed “vertical launch” spaceport – at SaxaVord on the northernmost inhabited island of Unst. A number of companies hope to launch satellites from there, but so far none have blasted off. The German company, Rocket Factory Augsburg, is believed to be in the furthest stages of development.

The report notes Scotland is geographically well-placed, as certain types of satellite launches benefit from higher latitudes. However, Norway has its own spaceport at Andoya in the northern part of the country, as it also seeks to capitalise on the global market for small satellite launches. Andoya hosted its first launch attempt in late March, though the test rocket made by Isar Aerospace fell to the ground and exploded shortly after lift-off.

The Scottish Affairs Committee heard from a number of experts and figures involved in the space industry. Professor Malcolm Macdonald, of Strathclyde University,, said the UK had not always sustained its “first-mover” advantage in the space launch sector. The report’s conclusion stated: “It is clear that the UK is falling behind its European counterparts in terms of public investment, leaving Scottish spaceports at a competitive disadvantage in a fast-moving global market.’

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🛸 For those of you interested in this sort of thing, the U.S. Congress saw fit to hold a hearing on UFOs this week. Among the evidence shown was this video, in which a hellfire missile strikes ‘an orb, off the coast of Yemen’ – which keeps flying: