Background: The UK Space Agency:
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and provides technical advice on the government’s space strategy, supporting the UK space sector to deliver the government’s vision.
Space is a part of everyday life. Satellites underpin our national economy, from agriculture and banking to aviation and shipping, and support our national security. Space science provides critical data to understand and address global challenges such as climate change, while missions to explore our solar system unite nations and advance humanity’s horizons.
We support a thriving space sector in the UK, which generates an annual income of £16.5 billion and employs 47,000 people across the country.
Through our portfolio of programmes and projects, we encourage the development of national space capabilities and are an early-stage investor in space research and development. We also promote the UK space sector’s interests and achievements; make connections to join up industry and academia; and represent the UK in international space programmes.
We have a powerful global voice, partnering with institutions across the world, including the European Space Agency.
More information about the Agency is available here:
To discover more please watch this film
Our Inclusive Environment
We have an inclusive culture to make UK Space Agency a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.
We offer first-class flexible working benefits, excellent employee well-being support and a great pension. We are fortunate to have a range of excellent staff networks and are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We will support talented people from all backgrounds to build a career and thrive.
We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion.
This is an exciting and unique opportunity for the successful candidate to be part of a historic event - you will play an important role in achieving the first ever vertical launches of small satellites into space from UK soil.
The Government’s National Space Strategy set a goal for the UK to become a leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030. To achieve this ambition, in 2017 the UK Space Agency awarded £50m in grant funding to support the development of UK spaceports, launch vehicles, and small satellites. The first of these grants supported a horizontal launch by Virgin Orbit from Spaceport Cornwall which took place in January 2023. The remaining four grants focus on delivering vertical rocket launches of small satellites from the UK:
* £2.5 million to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) towards developing a Spaceport in Sutherland in Scotland;
* £5.5 million to a UK based launch company, Orbex, towards the development of their launch vehicle (Prime) to launch from SaxaVord Space Centre on the Shetland Isles;
* £13.5m million to Lockheed Martin to conduct a vertical launch from SaxaVord Space Centre; and
* £10m to build a small launch orbital manoeuvring vehicle (SL-OMV) that will deliver a payload of small cube satellites into orbit.
The team also manages a number of smaller grants related to developing the UK’s presence in space, including building, testing and launching new satellites. The post holder will be responsible for managing one or more of these grants through to successful completion. There will also be an opportunity to build skills and experience of wider corporate roles.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .