Space industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

The UK space industry
Research Briefing from the House of Commons Library on the UK space industry, published in June 2025. Includes its size, the types of activities that it supports and government policy for the UK space sector. It also covers key UK Space Agency programmes and missions and considers the international outlook for the UK space industry.

Market research

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the industrial sector from Euromonitor, with a range of major market profiles country reports on aircraft and spacecraft. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including space vehicle & missile manufacturing in the US. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available.

Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK aerospace industry. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Industry news

The Library can carry out industry news searches for ICAEW members and ACA students.

Statistics on the UK

UK Space Agency

The UK Space Agency and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy publishes The size and health of the UK space industry, a biennial report analysing performance in the sector.

The data examines:

size of the industry
value added
employment
multiplier impact
business categories
customers
applications
research and development.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery (30.30)
Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft (33.16)

See Section C: Manufacturing.

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery (C3030)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft (C3316)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Space transport (H5122)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Statistics on the Americas

Aerospace Industries Association

The US Aerospace Industries Association compiles a range of detailed statistics in its Research Center.

Aerospace Facts and Figures include:

year-end reviews and forecasts
quarterly balance sheet and income statements for the US aerospace industry
employment (including average hours, earnings and cost index)
production figures and operating costs
US exports and imports.

Aerospace Industries Association of Canada

The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada compile industry statistics with an annual performance report, The State of the Canada's Aerospace Industry Report .

Global statistics

OECD

The OECD produces The Space Economy At A Glance, a statistical overview of the global space sector with analysis of activities and output as well as profiles of individual countries. The latest editions are:

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

number of employees
number of establishments
output
value added
total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

Aircraft and spacecraft (3530)

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof (88)

Employment

UK

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Manufacturing of air and spacecraft and related machinery (303)
Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft (33160)

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

aerospace engineers

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

Guidance and legislation for spaceflight
Guidance and legislation for spaceflight, published by the UK Space Agency. Includes information on international space law, the Outer Space Act 1986 and the Space Industry Act 2018, insurance requirements and liabilities and satellite licence fees.

Spaceflight from the UK
Information from GOV.UK on the UK’s satellite launch capability and spaceflight industry.

International

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) compiles information on international space law, including links to national space laws for a large number of countries.

Import and export

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

spacecraft (including satellites) and suborbital and spacecraft launch vehicles

UK key players, ratios and trends

A range of reports on this sector are available to ICAEW members and ACA students via the Library.

Valuation

Reports on this sector can be supplied by the Library to ICAEW members and ACA students.

UK benchmarking

The Library can supply benchmarking reports to ICAEW members and ACA students.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Europe

Americas

Asia

Global

APRSAF provides a list of participants, which includes links to many national and regional bodies.

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.