Charting the UK’s space ecosystem: an interactive map of national capability
We partnered with the Satellite Applications Catapult and the UK Space Agency to design and build an interactive map that showcases the UK’s growing space ecosystem.
The tool highlights clusters, capabilities, and enterprise labs across the country, making it easier for investors, policymakers, and innovators to discover and connect with the UK’s space organisations.
Context and challenge
The UK space sector is expanding rapidly, with clusters of excellence in satellite technology, launch services, earth observation, and research. But this landscape has been fragmented and difficult to navigate, limiting visibility for stakeholders and slowing collaboration.
The UK Space Agency and Satellite Applications Catapult wanted to:
- Create a single, accessible platform showcasing the full breadth of UK space activity.
- Demonstrate the UK’s capabilities to international investors and partners.
- Help policymakers, industry, and academia explore where capabilities are concentrated and how clusters contribute to national growth.
Our approach
We designed and delivered an interactive cluster directory and map that provides multiple entry points into the UK’s space ecosystem.
Key features:
The UK’s Space Clusters: hubs of innovation and collaboration, combining research, pioneering businesses, and world-class talent to drive the UK’s leadership in space.
Space Capabilities Heat-maps: a visual way to explore where opportunities are located across the UK, showing academic strengths and industrial specialisms by region.
National capability focus areas: detailed content tabs that unpack each region’s expertise and contributions.
Space Enterprise Labs (SELs): highlighted as physical hubs with state-of-the-art digital kits, enabling collaboration locally and nationally.
Impact
The directory transforms how the UK’s space sector is presented and understood:
For policymakers: a clear evidence base to guide funding and strategy.
For investors: a powerful showcase of opportunities and strengths across the UK.
For academia and industry: a tool to connect with clusters, labs, and organisations.
By making the sector’s depth visible, navigable, and updatable, the directory has become a living showcase of UK space innovation, strengthening the country’s position as a global leader in space exploration and technology.
Get in touch if you’d like to explore how interactive maps and directories can make your sector’s strengths more visible, navigable, and engaging.