A burgeoning US space industry is finding it difficult to attract enough talent. According to an article on Space News the core industry comprised 151,797 people in 2021. This represented an 18.4% increase over the last five years, despite the pandemic.

However, the non-profit Space Foundation noted in a briefing at the 37th Space Symposium in April, “There’s a real concern about the labour supply that is available, particularly in precision manufacturing.”

Enrolment in training programmes in these fields has been dropping for four years and the pipeline of skilled labour appears insufficient.

Lesley Conn, director of research and analysis at the Space Foundation said that the work is perceived as being complex and exhausting.