Round-up on the UK Space Conference

By Anushka Sharma

🚀 That’s a wrap on the UK Space Conference 2025 — what a jam-packed week it has been for the SPAN Project Office as we’ve been working out of Manchester this whole week!

From powerful plenaries to policy deep dives, inclusive space dialogues to community-building moments, this year’s conference truly captured the ambition, complexity, and possibility of the UK space ecosystem. The SUN installation from Lancaster University was such a vibe and a wonderful place to take moments to reflect and recharge during the conference.

🌍 I was proud to contribute through:

• Shaping the programme as a member of the Conference Programme Committee
• Supporting the Space Academic Network (SPAN) across sessions that bridged research, policy, industry, and education. A special thank you to Kate Robson Brown, who kicked off with a keynote setting out the academic perspective, and to Anna Hogg for leading the discussion on how we bring value to the nation
• Taking part in community engagement events like the MIF panel that opened up space to the wider public — alongside NW Cluster Manager Alan Cross and ESA Astronaut John McFall. Truly an honour.
• Joining the UKSA External Affairs team for a Comms breakfast to facilitate a roundtable of expert communicators and companies, connecting dots, creating fruitful connections and sparking new ideas including a WhatsApp group.
• Thank you Timothy Jenkins, Will Gater, Chris Noble and Natalie Dyer, Kate Arkless Gray, Jade Bell, Adam Watts, Neil Monteiro for your inputs and contributions.
• Joining the UK-Africa Space Partnership panel alongside Davis Cook, Mariam Mufti, UK Space Agency. Heidi Thiemann, Space Skills Alliance, Pamela Smith (Anderson), AAC Clydespace Anushka Sharma, Space Academic Network (SPAN), Andrew Dickson, Scottish Enterprise and our incredible chair Thando Mathe, Spatial Sense Inc.
• Championing the role of academia in national capability planning and future missions

There’s a growing sense that the UK’s space ambition must be underpinned by strategic continuity, cross-sector collaboration, and inclusive engagement.

I’m leaving Manchester with lots of thoughts, conversations and collisions so after some time to decompress and reflect, I will be ready to keep building momentum that brings everyone along.

📸 Swipe through the carousel for highlights — connections, conversations, and candid moments that capture the energy of hashtagUKSpaceConf25.

Thank you to everyone I had the chance to meet, work with, and learn from.
Huge thanks to Anu Ojha and Sarah Beardsley for your energy and hosting – I wholly appreciate how much energy and focus that takes to hold space for us all. Shout out to Catherine Davies and the team for all your efforts.

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