UK Satellite Companies Look to US for Space-Related Contracts

Companies in the UK are pushing to claim bigger roles in the global space industry and challenge prominent US players like SpaceX.

For federal contractors, the recent moves by the UK space sector bring additional competition for US and international investments into the increasingly-crowded satellites product and services sector. Upcoming UK spaceports and launch startups are looking to swipe a chunk of business currently dominated by US providers.

Commercial satellite giants Inmarsat and OneWeb Ltd. are each involved in pending mergers that could reshape the UK’s space sector. And a new generation of UK-based startups have leveraged private equity and ...