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Skills – What employers wantKathie Bowden,
National Point of Contact, Skills and Career Development, UK Space Agency and the Institute for Environmental Analytics
February 2016
A dynamic space programme
Key Facts
www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency > publications > “Size and Health of UK Space Industry”
OrganisationUPSTREAM
Designing, building and managing spacecraft such as satellites
Companies tended to:• Be larger• Have graduate training programmes• Recruit from universities or from other
sectorsBut increasingly smaller companies who:• Recruit direct and don’t do milk round• Look for imaginative self starters
Job requirements:• Good quality, numerate, first degree
e.g. engineering (particularly mechanical or electrical), computer science, physics etc
• Specialised Masters degree• In some cases apprenticeships are
offered
Starting Salaries circa £27K
DOWNSTREAM OR SPACE ENABLEDExploiting space-derived data and providing
services or products e.g. weather forecasting, risk management
Employers tend to:• Be smaller divisions of big companies or
SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).• Recruit direct. Occasionally interact
directly with universities
Job requirements:• In most cases a first degree in the
subjects as for upstream or Earth or Marine Sciences, Ecology, Geographical and Environmental Sciences.
• Strong quantitative skills e.g data management and modelling.
Starting Salaries circa £20-23K
Jobs in space!
Credit: ESA/Guus Schoonewille
Engineers - mechanical and electrical, and technicians, to design and build spacecraft and instruments.
Systems and software designers, mathematicians – developing software to control and monitor spacecraft, using space data to model complex systems for applications such as weather, navigation and communications
Scientists, researchers and technical specialists - in physics, geology, climatology, biology and many more subjects, designing experiments and using space data to learn more about the Earth, ourselves and the Universe.
In companies using space - from agriculture to resource exploration, disaster monitoring and risk evaluation, environmental protection to telecommunications, using physical sciences, maths and engineering.
Jobs in space!
• Being a team player
• Languages
• Problem solving
• Communicating professionally
• Balancing Budgets
• Numeracy and basic statistics
What skills are important?
•Data Management and Modelling
•Understanding risk and
uncertainty
• Catastrophe Modelling
Skills in short supply!
There are identified shortages of people with the following skills:
•Cyber Security•Digital Signal Processing (including radar processing and engineering)•Radio-frequency Engineering•Antenna Design•GNSS understanding, development and processing
Note these skills are also in short supply in other sectors and are therefore HIGHLY TRANSFERABLE!
How do I gain additional skills?
Internships / work experienceApply directly to a company or take advantage of schemes such as the Space Placements
in Industry Network (SPIN):https://sa.catapult.org.uk/space-internship-network-spin-scheme
Further Links can be found athttp://www.ukspace.org/what-we-do/careers/
Years in Industry (if in a degree programme):http://www.etrust.org.uk/year_in_industry.cfm
Short course or MSc run by Higher Education Institutes (useful if already in employment)
Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) https://www.futurelearn.com
Ensure you take appropriate modules whilst still at University!
Other top tips for a space sector career
1. Join a space group or Society such as:
• Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (UKSEDS) - the world’s largest space enthusiast organisation for both school and university students. In the UK: ukseds.org/
• British Interplanetary Society: www.bis-spaceflight.com/• Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society: www.rspsoc.org.uk• Royal Aeronautical Society: www.aerosociety.com
2. Learn to Network – go out and meet people from companies at conferences and exhibitions.3. The soft skills that make you good at your subject will also be important to an employer –
use them!4. Employers are interested in what else you do with your life, and where your passions lie.
For UK companies involved in the space sector – check out members of UK Space, British Association of Remote Sensing Companies
and corporate members of appropriate societies – contact information can also be found in the Space Directory
UK Space Agency +44 (0)207 215 5000
@spacegovuk
www.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
www.ukspacedirectory.com
