In the UK, 39 new companies have been added to the space sector every year since 2012. With Britain branching out into commercial spaceports, designed to launch both human spaceflights and commercial satellite missions, you may be wondering how we got to this point? This timeline charts the key explorations, contributions and discoveries Britain has made over the past 86 years in an effort to prove that the sky’s the limit...
The UK satellite services industry is currently worth an estimated £300 billion of GDP
The British Interplanetary Society is founded. The organisation is dedicated to supporting and promoting the exploration of space and astronautics.
1933
The first proposal to fund a British manned suborbital space flight was submitted to the government, but was rejected due to limited funds following WWII.
1943
British Space Programme officially launched by the UK government.
1952
First UK satellite programme was started, with the goal to develop the country's space capabilities.
1959
Britain's first military rocket, Blue Streak, was designed to launch nuclear weapons.
1960
First British satellite, Ariel 1, built and launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
1962
Britain independently launches a satellite into orbit from Woomera in Australia.
1971
European Space Agency (ESA) is established, with Britain at the forefront of the ten founding states.
1975
UK government establishes the British National Space Centre (BNSC).
1985
British Aerospace builds ESA's Giotto spacecraft in Bristol.
1985
British engineers planned to design and build British Aerospace and Inmarsat's flagship Eurostar satellite.
1990
Helen Sharman becomes the first British astronaut in space, as well as the first woman to do it. She was selected for Project Juno - a cooperative Soviet Union-British mission.
1991
Cassini-Huygens launched into space. The cooperative mission between NASA, the ESA and ISA sends a probe to study Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
1997
British Mars lander, Beagle 2, was transported by the European Space Agency. A return signal was not identified after deployment and it was eventually declared lost.
2003
Sir Richard Branson founds Virgin Galactic. The spaceflight company aims to provide suborbital flights to space tourists, as well as science missions.
2004
The ESA began work on a new global satellite navigation system called Galileo. Full functionality was predicted to be by 2020.
2005
Tim Peake was selected as the ESA's first ever British recruit, chosen from 8,413 applicants.
2009
UK Space Agency (UKSA) is launched.
2010
ESA launches the Gaia space observatory, which aims to image a billion Milky Way objects in 3D.
2013
ESA's Rosetta mission touches down on comet 67P after a ten-year journey through the Solar System.
2014
Eleven years after the lander was declared lost, Beagle 2 is found by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
2015
Tim Peake becomes the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station.
2015
Galileo begins offering Early Operational Capability (EOC), with full functionality predicted to be by 2019.
2016
The government passes the Space Industry Act 2018, which lays the foundations for regulated spaceports in the UK.
2018
A £30 million investment in space technology is announced by the Defence Secretary.
2019
Spaceport Cornwall is scheduled to launch.
2021
The Stay in Cornwall Spaceport Case File
Stay in Cornwall's Spaceport Case File analyses official government reports covering the UK space sector, looking at its carbon emissions, economical impact, employment rate and educational interest to date. The case file also looks at the UK's key space explorations, contributions and discoveries, to highlight the history surrounding spaceports.
Sources include the Office for National Statistics, Spaceport Cornwall, London Economics and the Space Innovation and Growth Strategy.