Australian & the UK Join forces to address space sector skills shortage

By Andrew Curran, MySecurity Media

With the UK's first rocket launch on home soil only two months away, the UK space sector is suddenly attracting attention from beyond its own shores. It is a moment to shine. Ten thousand miles away, Australia's space sector is keenly watching their friendly rivals take the next step on their space journey.

The two countries have space ties dating back 50 years. The 66-kilogram Prospero X-3 satellite built in Farnborough, UK, successfully hitched a ride into space on the back of a Black Arrow rocket at Woomera in October 1971.

That longstanding space relationship has ebbed and flowed ever since. More recently, the relationship has been on the uptick, with the UK and Australia rejuvenating their space sectors. The space sectors of both countries enjoy similarities in size, scope, design, and ambition.

It made perfect sense then when in February 2021, Australia and the UK signed off on the world's first space bridge, a pact to collaborate and cooperate on space research, innovation, investment, and opportunities. Less than 18 months after the agreement was signed, the Australia-UK Space Bridge has already produced real-world results. The University of New South Wales is now working with Spire Global UK to monitor and classify Antarctic sea ice from space.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide are collaborating with D-CAT and Intergrain to look at how hyperspectral processing can help plant breeders create more productive crops to feed more people.

Perth-based LatConnect60 has teamed up with the University of Surrey's SSTL small satellite operation to co-own capacity on a high-resolution Earth observation satellite. Space Bridge funding is sponsoring these and other joint Australia-UK space efforts. "Each country is aware space is important for economic growth," says Joanne Hart, Director at the UK's Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC). "People are also increasingly aware of the dependence that we all have on space – all our positioning, all our timing, our satellite comms, our satellite TV - there is increasing awareness of how important space is to everyday life."

In the UK, the space sector directly supports about 45,000 workers and generates annual revenues of around AU$29 billion. But the sector also underpins an additional $630 billion annually in economic activity in the UK. That will increase when the UK demonstrates its sovereign launch capability in September.

But like Australia, the UK space sector is experiencing growing pains. The sector is growing faster than any other in the UK. Also, like Australia's space sector, the UK is characterised by an abundance of clever but often financially precarious start-ups, a small number of primes, financial uncertainty (capital is often provided on a perproject basis rather than on an ongoing basis), labour shortages, and the absence of a clear skills pipeline to cater for expected future growth.

Joanna Hart can't solve every challenge facing the UK space sector, although, with a PhD based on a study of particle physics, she is probably better qualified than most to try. Part of Dr Hart's role is to develop appropriately skilled people for jobs in the space sector, with the STFC supporting research in astronomy, physics, and space science at top-flight research facilities in the UK. She says if the UK (and Australia) wants a world-class space sector, they need the right type of people.

Skilled labour shortages aren't exclusively a space sector problem but a group of UK and Australian officials, including Dr Hart, met recently at Australia House in London to talk about the space skills challenge at a Space Bridge roundtable. "Rather than the UK analyse everything from a UK perspective, when there are exactly similar challenges and issues in Australia, why don't we do a bit of analysis, see what works, what doesn't, and knowledge share across the space bridge," she said.

That funding uncertainty, the boom-bust nature of space start-ups, and the relative youth of the commercial space sector are some reasons why the space sector skills pipeline is so undeveloped.

Broader economic conditions, the absence of clearly defined pathways and perceived barriers into the space sector are some external reasons for the space skills shortage in both countries.

It is something Joanna Hart is keen to address. "We've got all these great facilities at the STFC," she says, namechecking a synchrotron, accelerators, neutron and muon sources, and a deep underground science facility. There's also STFC-managed access to CERN's particle physics lab outside Geneva. "We're already training people for our own needs, but we are short people across the whole space sector. How can we train more people to benefit the UK space sector? I'm leading the proposal to find out how."

The UK wants to snag a 10% of the global space economy by 2030. Australia is also angling for a large slice of this pie estimated to be worth more than US$1.4 trillion by 2030. But without the right people working in the local space sectors, the risk is that the opportunities will pass.

The recent Australia-UK Space Bridge roundtable discussed transferable skills from other sectors, developing global talent and the government's role in addressing the skills challenge.

Dr Hart agrees the space sector cannot solve the skills challenge overnight, but neither can it cannot be left untackled. She notes it takes six years to get through an undergraduate and graduate education, and the sector needs to start funnelling young people into the right degrees now for future employment in the space sector.

Dr Hart also says the sector needs to become more diverse. The space sector is no longer just the domain of boys with degrees from MIT. Space is for everyone, she says, regardless of race, colour, gender, or creed. And more than that, the space sector needs people who think differently, creative thinkers who'll think outside the box. "We've got to resolve this," she says. "I would hate it if we were still here in 10 years' time still talking about skills. We need a clear action plan, and we should be able to see people coming through."

In the meantime, Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747-400, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, is due to take off from Cornwall's Newquay Airport in September. The big Boeing will give a 26,000-kilogram Launcher One rocket a ride before it deploys in UK airspace. It will be the UK's first rocket launch at home and will come 51 years after launching Prospero at Woomera.

It might just be enough to spark interest in a career in space from an entirely new generation.

"We're already training people for our own needs, but we are short people across the whole space sector. How can we train more people to benefit the UK space sector? I'm leading the proposal to find out how."

Deputy Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook leading roundtable discussions in London