Lockheed Martin to set up UK space office

US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin to set up a space office in Britain.

The company, which currently has 3,300 employees in the UK and a further 10,000 jobs in the supply chain, says it wants to explore partnership opportunities with UK businesses and universities in order to support the UK's goal of growing its national capabilities in space. The new facility will be based at the UK Space Gateway in Harwell Oxford. Stephen Ball, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK, said: "Our new office will support the UK Space Agency's objective to grow national involvement in the space sector through innovation and science, new opportunities, and space-related exports. "We will underpin this strategy by working with industry and academia to identify opportunities to accelerate innovation, strengthen national space expertise, and connect UK organisations with international space programmes."