Scottish University to receive half-a-million-pounds to bridge space skills gap

The University of Edinburgh has secured £520,000 worth of funding to bridge the skills gap in the UK Space sector.

The cash injection comes as part of a nationwide push by the UK Space Agency to solve the challenge.

With total funding adding up to £2.1m, Edinburgh University will lead one of five projects looking to boost learning opportunities.

The Scottish institution will offer training programmes on areas such as systems engineering and software and data, which according to the latest space sector skills survey is the number one skills gap in the sector, with a 72 per cent gap.

It is especially keen on applicants who have taken a career break including women returners, or those who are from a disadvantaged background.

UKSA chief executive Paul Bate hopes the initiative will help the UK keep up with the “growing industry".

Other project-leading institutions include the University of Portsmouth and the University of Leicester.

Meanwhile, the UKSA also published a decade-long strategy to boost the European Space Agency’s (ESA) presence in the UK.

The joint plan builds on the success of the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, based in Hardwell.

It will strengthen work on the centre's 5G/6G hub as well as explore the potential for a space quantum technologies laboratory.