UK publishes new GBP7.8bn Space Strategy

The UK released its new ‘Space Strategy’ on 8 September, bringing the government’s investment and activity under one consolidated GBP7.8 billion plan. 

Though the plan is framed around GBP7.8 billion in funding to 2030, this is largely a consolidation of spending already allocated across previously announced civil-defence commitments.

On the whole, the plan reiterates stated actions and investment already detailed in the 2021 National Space Strategy and 2022 Defence Space Strategy, as well as the UK’s Defence Investment Plan and Advanced Manufacturing Sector document.

Space control: a strategic requirement

However, the Space Strategy does elevate space control into a formally named “Control of Space Requirement,” treating it as a strategic priority in its own right with a roadmap to follow.

Space control refers to the act of protecting assets in space through defensive and offensive measures, ensuring freedom of manoeuvre in space.

The UK’s Defence Investment Plan, published in June 2026, stressed that the Ukraine conflict had shown space to be a contested frontline, prompting a fundamental shift in approach and “driving increased investment in sovereignty, resilience, and offensive and defensive space control.”

A total of GBP880 million is being allocated to space control as well as space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance between 2026-2030, according to the investment plan.

Securing a sovereign launch capability

The Space Strategy also commits new funding to build the UK’s sovereign launch infrastructure at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

A total of GBP30 million in government funding, complemented by GBP30 million in private investment, will be allocated to support completion of key infrastructure such as its launchpads as SaxaVord moves towards regular commercial launch operations, the SaxaVord said.

SaxaVord was formerly a Royal Air Force radar station before being transformed into a launch facility. It is the UK's first fully licensed vertical launch spaceport and has regulatory approval for up to 30 commercial rocket launches a year.

While the plan is largely a consolidation of previous commitments, it is still useful for companies assessing where demand, funding and UK space priorities lie.