The British Government says it will back plans for an expansion of the UK space industry - increasing their input to 40 billion pounds by 2030. The government has said they are also considering developing legal framework so that a spaceport could be built in the UK.

The government's announcement comes in response to an industry report published last year that called for a properly funded national space programme in the UK.

The space industry in the UK already generates 9.1 billion pounds a year for the economy and saw a 7 per cent growth every year throughout the recession.

But now with further government backing through changes to the law and the regulations companies work by - how can the UK space industry grow further?

David Parker is CEO of the UK Space Agency:"Right now the UK is perhaps not known for its space activities as much as it should be. We're trying to pass the message that Britain is a great place to have a space business. We've got really good environment for the space industry that we're building: a good regulatory environment, a good tax base that allows space companies to grow and prosper."

The government are also considering plans to develop a legal framework that could permit a spaceport to be set up in the country - The first of its kind.

This would act as a travel hub where spaceships could depart with passengers on board and take them into space for a few minutes at a time.

Virgin Galactic could be sending tourists into space as early as the end of this year - but for the time being, that will be from their headquarters in the United States.

The British space business now aims to make its mark on a quickly evolving global space industry - where stalwarts such as NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency work alongside emerging agencies from countries like India.

David Parker says the UK space industry can be involved in many interesting technological developments: "In future, we're going to see an awful lot more data becoming available from satellites much more cheaply and the opportunity to develop lots more applications from space in everday life. It's possible to get real-time video data from satellites in orbit, so you can count the number of cars in a car park or supermarket; you can use satellite to monitor shipping in remote locations."

It is hoped that government backing will help the growth of new space tourism and technology companies.

Stuart Martin is the CEO of Catapult Satellite Applications - a British company that works with investors to create satellite technology.

He says the British space industry has an exciting future ahead: "The transition we're seeing towards space flight and space tourism, which is the first step in that process is very analogous to what we saw in the early stages of the airline industry in the early part of the last century. As that technology evolves, as demand grows, then all sorts of new things are going to become possible."

The majority of the 300 million pound civil space budget in the UK is mostly spent on programmes organised through the European Space Agency.

With just a small sum spent on exclusively home-grown initiatives.

This is in contrast to Germany, France and Italy - the other big space agencies in Europe - who have large national programmes in addition to their European Space Agency participation.

However - now a simplification of regulations and investment is likely to see the space industry in Britain rival their competitors from overseas.

Stuart Martin says the industry will continue to flourish.

"It's hoped that international and home grown companies will now be drawn to the UK to boost the space industry further."

Last year's report set a target of 2018 for the UK Spaceport to be created.

Source: Voice of Russia