Photo: UK Space Agency

The UK Space Agency launched its first ever UK Space Census on Wednesday to survey the diversity of the U.K. space sector and inform future space policy. The census will collect anonymous information from space sector professionals to provide a broad picture of the U.K. space job market including demographics including age, gender, race, and sexuality. 

The Space Growth Partnership – a network of government, industry and academia plans to use the survey’s results to develop actions to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the growing U.K. space sector. The 2020 Space Census is carried out by the Space Skills Alliance. It is sponsored by the University of Leicester, and will run until the end of the year.

“The U.K. has bold ambitions in space, but in order to grow our sector further we need to properly champion diversity, equality of opportunity and make sure our space businesses truly reflect our society as a whole,” commented UK Space Agency Chief Executive Graham Turnock. “We need to drive change for the future of our sector in a way that is not just us ticking a box and this census will play a vital role in helping us understand the demographics of space in the U.K. and, most importantly, what the challenges are.”