Space development [News Analysis]

AFTER YEARS AS what could be termed a \´stealth industry\´, the UK\´s space sector has emerged into the sunlight with a string of positive developments: a 25 per cent increase in annual contributions to the european space Agency, the inauguration of new esA and other space facilities at Harwell, and the appointment of the UK\´s first official astronaut, tim Peake. two years ago, at the time of the inaugural UK space Conference, the space sector was making a ??7.5bn annual contribution to the UK economy. On 16 July, at the second of these biennial gatherings, Minister for Universities and science David Willetts confirmed that the contribution had risen to more than ??9bn a year, which is good news for a government "focusing hard on economic growth". even more significantly, he expressed confidence in the UK\´s target to capture "10 per cent of the world space market, expected to be worth $400bn by 2030".