UK Space Conference: Helping Greater Manchester’s Young people forge STEM Careers

UK Space Conference came to Manchester for 2025, bringing more than astronauts and cutting-edge aerospace science but an abundance of opportunity. 

By gathering organisations with an interest in space to network and create business opportunities, the conference plays a crucial role in shaping the future of the UK’s space sector. Currently, the space sector generates £18.9bn for the UK economy and employs 52,000 people. 

By coming to Manchester, this event provided the opportunity for businesses, academics, local authorities and innovators to connect with this thriving and rapidly growing sector. The event could act as a platform to raise regional ambition, connect to national programmes, and turn potential into participation. 

UK Space Conference 2025 represents more than an industry gathering, it’s a strategic opportunity to place Greater Manchester and the wider North firmly on the UK’s space map. 

Held at Manchester Central, the event welcomed thousands of delegates to discuss key issues including skills challenges, sustainability and private investment as well as how the space sector can support the Government’s ambitions and drive growth while creating opportunities for all. 

Manchester, as the home of Graphene, an industrial hub, hive of innovation and home to an expanding Space UK workforce was an obvious choice for the conference’s 2025 location. The North West as a whole has seen a lot of investment from the UK Space Agency’s Local Growth Initiative and STFC’s industrial cluster development, so our region really is leading the way in space innovation and collaboration.

Professor Anu Ojha, Director of Championing Space at UK Space Agency said “Greater Manchester has a rich industrial heritage and a growing reputation for excellence in advanced areas like manufacturing, data, and clean tech, all key to the UK’s future in space. Many of these companies don’t think of themselves as space businesses, but there are rich opportunities for them in the sector. We need conversation and collaboration to bring these to fruition, and Manchester is a brilliant place to connect that national growth ambition with regional strengths.”  

Driving Social Value through STEM Skills 

As part of its drive to inspire the next generation to join the space sector, UK Space Conference set an exemplar of how conferences can give back to the community and have a lasting impact. 

By making a commitment to regenerative tourism, more and more events like the UK Space Conference are working to make a positive impact, leaving a place better than it was before by contributing to a positive cycle of impacts on local environments, communities and economies. 

This includes a commitment to driving forward knowledge about skills and future career opportunities; helping to inspire young people, share opportunities and create paths to high-quality jobs which will in turn, drive growth in a city and create a more desirable environment for business and innovation. 

The UK Space conference opened up its activity to the general public and school groups across the region. This is part of an ambition to bring the context of space and space careers to teachers, pupils and the general public in hopes of diversifying the sector and inspiring a new generation of STEM talent to rise from a range of backgrounds.  

The idea is centred around showing what is possible; helping young people and teachers to learn more about job opportunities, showing that a career in the space sector isn’t just a thing from story books and tv shows but a tangible opportunity. 

From Saturday 12 July, the conference joined the Manchester International Festival – the city’s flagship cultural event and brought Paralympic bronze medallist and the first-ever ESA parastronaut John McFall to share his journey from elite sports to heading to outer space in a special talk. This conversation was open to all and is free to attend with no booking. Anyone could hear the inspirational talk in Festival Square and learn more about the possibilities in Space. A similar session also ran at Jodrell Bank with tickets available to the public. 

However, it doesn’t stop there. UK Space worked with some of Greater Manchester’s secondary schools; Dixon Brookland Academy and William Hulme Grammar School, to engage students with the sector and help them understand future careers in Space. 

The conference held workshops at Jodrell Bank for both primary and secondary school students in the region giving them a chance to tour the Observatory and immerse themselves in the wonders of out of space.  

Finally, 150 children aged 9 - 11 from across the region were invited to a special event for an opportunity to learn more about the space sector, STEM careers and to be inspired by the wonders of science. A range of activities were organised to engage the children, sharing insights on what it’s like to work in STEM and how space links to our everyday lives to bring the sector closer and show the real possibilities. 

The work that UK Space has done in Manchester in 2025 is an exemplar of the positive effects business tourism can have and is an opportunity to inspire a  new generation who may have previously thought the sector wasn’t a place for them. It’s an example of how to become a more sustainable conference; showing that sustainability goes beyond environmental impact. 

If you’d like to learn more about how your conference can embrace Regenerative Tourism, view Visit Britain’s comprehensive guide here or view this Social Impact Guide created by Marketing Manchester’s Convention Bureau to find out how to connect with local charities, education providers and community organisations. 

You can also view the Sustainable Events Guide and Checklist from Marketing Manchester’s Convention Bureau designed to help you consider all aspects of your event from a sustainable point of view, from travel to accommodation, to the venue and catering, and much more. 

Professor Anu Ojha, Director of Championing Space at UK Space Agency continued   “Skills will be a key topic of conversation at UK Space Conference 2025. We can’t grow our sector without a skilled, diverse, and inspired workforce across lots of specialisms, not just STEM subjects - we need all kinds of minds and all kinds of people. That’s why we’ll be entertaining hundreds of students from the area to help them imagine a future for themselves working in the space sector. 

“It’s important that the benefits of a major national event like this are felt locally. There’s a thriving hi-tech industry in the region already, so by giving young people a window into the sector, meeting astronauts and talking to scientists, we’re aiming to spark ambition and leave a legacy of inspiration and opportunity in local communities.”