European Space Agency: Expenditure
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the return on investment from UK contributions to the European Space Agency in the past three years.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Independent monitoring and evaluation analysis conducted in 2025 found that for every £1 the UK contributes to ESA programmes leads to £7.49 (approximately €1: €8.49 based on daily exchange rate from European Central bank) directly benefiting the UK economy. These benefits help drive innovation, stimulate job creation, and foster sustained long-term economic growth within the UK's space sector.
Between 2022 and 2025, the UK Space Agency secured an additional €122.5 million in contracts for the UK space sector
In the last quarter of 2024, the UK Space Agency secured €96 million in contracts, the highest single-quarter return ever recorded by an ESA Member State in the current statistical reporting period established in 2015.
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