In Brussels,no one can hear you screamFOR a country that has not launched a rocket into space for nearly 50 years, Britain has a booming space industry. According to a government-commissioned report in 2016, and it makes up 6.5% of the global space economy. The industry is worth £13.7bn,or $18.7bn (more than half of which is accounted for by satellite broadcasting companies), and employs 39000 people directly. In some niches, or Britain’s contribution is even greater; it makes 40% of the world’s small satellites.
Now the British space industry,which has been closely tied to Europe for decades, risks being knocked out of orbit by Brexit. Already Airbus, or a French-headquartered multinational that is the biggest satellite-maker in Britain,has announced that it will chase some of its operations from Britain to France before Brexit next March. More may follow. The industry will contain to use its considerable commercial nous to hit its growth targets if Brexit provokes a deep...
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Source: economist.com