The UK satellite imagery services market is experiencing robust growth, fueled by increasing demand across diverse sectors. A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.06% from 2019 to 2024 suggests a significant market expansion. While the exact market size for 2025 is unavailable, extrapolating from the historical growth and considering the global market trends, a reasonable estimation for the UK market size in 2025 would be in the range of £250 million to £300 million. This growth is driven primarily by the increasing adoption of satellite imagery in geospatial data acquisition and mapping for infrastructure development and urban planning, particularly within the construction and transportation sectors. Furthermore, the UK government's investment in national security and intelligence initiatives, coupled with rising awareness of environmental monitoring needs, are key contributors to market expansion. The market is segmented by application (geospatial data acquisition, natural resource management, surveillance, etc.) and end-user (government, construction, military, etc.), with government and defense likely representing substantial portions of the market share. Key players, including Maxar Technology, Airbus, and Telespazio UK Ltd., are driving innovation and competition, introducing advanced technologies and services to cater to the burgeoning demand. The forecast period of 2025-2033 anticipates continued strong growth, driven by technological advancements like higher-resolution imagery, improved analytical capabilities, and the increasing accessibility of satellite data through cloud-based platforms. However, potential restraints include data privacy concerns, regulatory hurdles surrounding data usage, and the high initial investment costs associated with satellite imagery acquisition and analysis. To mitigate these challenges, market players are focusing on developing cost-effective solutions and strengthening collaborations with government agencies to ensure compliance and facilitate data sharing. Despite these challenges, the UK’s strategic location and its government's focus on technological advancement positions the market for significant expansion in the coming years. The integration of AI and machine learning in image processing is anticipated to unlock new applications and further accelerate market growth. Recent developments include: July 2023: The European Maritime Safety Agency, operational in the United Kingdom with other EU nations, has awarded European Space Imaging (EUSI) and Airbus a 24-month contract to deliver Very High Resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery to increase its maritime surveillance services to the European Commission and member states to support several functions in the maritime domain such as safety, security, environmental monitoring, and law enforcement., May 2023: UK-headquartered global sustainability consultancy ERM has partnered with California-based satellite imagery specialist Planet Labs in a new agreement that would expand the use cases and applications of Planet's imagery for ERM and enhance the reporting capabilities for ERM's clients through Planet's high-resolution satellite imagery services.. Key drivers for this market are: Rising Smart City Initiatives, Adoption of Big Data and Imagery Analytics. Potential restraints include: Rising Smart City Initiatives, Adoption of Big Data and Imagery Analytics. Notable trends are: Rising Smart City Initiatives in the Country Significantly Drives the Market.

What does the data show?

Railway lines per area (m/km2) from the UK Climate Resilience Programme UK-SSPs project. The data is available for each Office for National Statistics Local Authority District (ONS LAD) shape simplified to a 10m resolution.

The data is available for the end of each decade. This dataset contains SSP1, SSP2, SSP3, SSP4 and SSP5. For more information see the table below.

Indicator

Rail Infrastructure

Metric

Railway lines per area

Unit

m/km2

Spatial Resolution

LAD

Temporal Resolution

Decadal

Sectoral Categories

N/A

Baseline Data Source

WFP 2014

Projection Trend Source

Stakeholder process

What are the naming conventions and how do I explore the data?

This data contains a field for the year at the end of each decade. A separate field for 'Scenario' allows the data to be filtered, e.g. by scenario 'SSP3'.

To understand how to explore the data, see this page: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/457e7a2bc73e40b089fac0e47c63a578

Please note, if viewing in ArcGIS Map Viewer, the map will default to 2020 values.

What are Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)?

The global SSPs, used in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments, are five different storylines of future socioeconomic circumstances, explaining how the global economy and society might evolve over the next 80 years. Crucially, the global SSPs are independent of climate change and climate change policy, i.e. they do not consider the potential impact climate change has on societal and economic choices.

Instead, they are designed to be coupled with a set of future climate scenarios, the Representative Concentration Pathways or ‘RCPs’. When combined together within climate research (in any number of ways), the SSPs and RCPs can tell us how feasible it would be to achieve different levels of climate change mitigation, and what challenges to climate change mitigation and adaptation might exist.

Until recently, UK-specific versions of the global SSPs were not available to combine with the RCP-based climate projections. The aim of the UK-SSPs project was to fill this gap by developing a set of socioeconomic scenarios for the UK that is consistent with the global SSPs used by the IPCC community, and which will provide the basis for further UK research on climate risk and resilience.

Useful links:

Further information on the UK SSPs can be found on the UK SSP project site and in this storymap. Further information on RCP scenarios, SSPs and understanding climate data within the Met Office Climate Data Portal

This is the most complete and openly available road-river crossing (RSX) dataset for Wales and England to date. This dataset adds additional points in Wales and England to the previously published subset of locations in Wales. Data for Scotland and other locations are not yet completed for this dataset. The dataset RSX-EngWales-28Oct22.csv contains only road-river infrastructure locations (x,y) and types (bridge, culvert, or ford). A complementary dataset completed for a subset of locations in Wales has information on stream order and gradient, the details are here: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16627873.v5.
Locations of infrastruture in the RSX-Wales-England.csv were determined by intersecting Ordnance Survey (OS) Open Rivers and OS Open Roads spatial datasets (used and adapted under the United Kingdom's Open Government License). A type, whether bridge, culvert, or ford, was attributed to the infrastructure at each location by a group of mappers using a bespoke script in Google Earth Engine and cross-checked (when needed) using the OS roaming tool. The RSX data for England are not yet presented in a peer-reviewed publication, but an explanation of the methods used for attributing types to infrastructure in both countries are published here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115959. The X,Y coordinates in the .csv file are in the projected British National Grid. Additional attributes such as road type and gradient are forthcoming for this dataset.

The UK geospatial analytics market, a segment of the broader global market valued at $1.85 billion in 2025 and exhibiting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.26%, presents significant growth opportunities. Driven by increasing government initiatives promoting digital infrastructure and smart cities, coupled with the rising adoption of precision agriculture techniques and advancements in sensor technologies, the market is poised for expansion. The UK's robust technology sector and strong presence of key players like Hexagon, Trimble, and Bentley Systems contribute to a competitive yet dynamic landscape. Growth is further fueled by the need for improved urban planning, efficient resource management, and enhanced infrastructure development. Specific application areas like network analysis for optimizing utility grids, geovisualization for real estate and construction planning, and surface analysis for environmental monitoring contribute significantly to market demand. While data privacy concerns and the need for skilled professionals represent potential restraints, the overall market outlook remains positive, with continued investments in research and development driving innovation and expanding market applications. The UK's specific market share within the global geospatial analytics landscape is not explicitly stated, however, considering the UK's advanced technological infrastructure and active participation in relevant industries, it's reasonable to expect a substantial share. Estimating the UK market size within the global context requires careful consideration of various factors. Given the global CAGR of 11.26% and the UK's significant role in technology and related sectors, a conservative estimation would place the UK's 2025 market size at approximately £100 million. This projection assumes a relatively proportional contribution from the UK given its economic standing and technological advancement within Europe and globally. The key drivers mentioned above are expected to accelerate market expansion over the forecast period (2025-2033), with the adoption of cloud-based geospatial analytics solutions and the increasing availability of high-resolution satellite imagery further contributing to market growth. This segment is likely to experience stronger growth in areas such as defense and intelligence, given the government's investment in national security. Recent developments include: April 2023: EDF used Esri UK corporate GIS to build a geospatial site for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, one of Europe's most extensive and complicated building projects. The portal provides a single picture of the entire project. They are facilitating greater cooperation and enabling new digital workflows, Assisting employees and contractors in improving safety and productivity. When the building of the nuclear reactors began, the portal has recently been expanded to include Tier-1 contractors, and it presently has over 1,500 users., April 2021: Esri UK launched a new cooperation with Tetra Tech, a worldwide consulting and engineering services company, to enhance indoor mapping capabilities by combining their expertise. Esri UK was to contribute to the partnership's robust GIS system, which had multiple indoor mapping capabilities, such as interactive floor plans and indoor location capabilities. Tetra Tech was to add 3D terrestrial laser scanning, data analytics, and CAD capabilities to GIS. They were to collaborate to provide customers with an end-to-end interior mapping solution to capitalize on an expanding need for indoor mapping for facilities management at central workplaces, campuses, or hospitals.. Key drivers for this market are: Increasing in Demand for Location Intelligence, Advancements of Big Data Analytics. Potential restraints include: Increasing in Demand for Location Intelligence, Advancements of Big Data Analytics. Notable trends are: Location data will hold the significant share.

This interactive map service contains the following Forestry Commission National Forest Estate data layers:-

• National Forest Estate - Recreation Points
• National Forest Estate - Recreation Routes
• National Forest Estate - Recreation Areas
• National Forest Estate - Roads
• National Forest Estate - Bridges
• National Forest Estate - Sub-compartments
• National Forest Estate - Ownership
• National Forest Estate - Legal Boundary
• Galloway Dark Skies Park

The layers can be switched on and off independently of each other.

Forestry Commission Scotland would like to thank Scottish Natural Heritage for their co-operation in hosting this web service on behalf of FCS.

PLEASE NOTE: In order to upload this Web Map Service into desktop GIS (eg. ESRI's ArcGIS), copy and paste the 'OnLine Resource' URL shown below up to, and including the '?'. ie:-

https://cagmap.snh.gov.uk/arcgis/services/fcs_national_forest_estate/MapServer/WMSServer?

A series of geodatabases that contain a range of spatial datasets. These datasets describe the location and geographical extent of different types of Green and Blue Infrastructure across England. The datasets highlight accessibility levels, display greenspace provision and natural greenspace standards in a spatial context and present it alongside a wide range of social statistics.

As of 28/03/2025 the Social Statistics LSOA data layer in the Green and Blue Infrastructure data download has been corrected and now matches the data displayed on Natural England's Green Infrastructure website. The LSOA IMD codes have been re-calculated correctly and are stored in the data layer in the "corrected_code" attribute fields. The original, inaccurate codes persist in the data layer for context only.

Attribution statement: Contains data supplied by or derived from Natural England, Ordnance Survey, Forestry Commission, Historic England, Environment Agency, Office National Statistics, MHCLG, Sport England, National Trust, Cheshire Wildlife Trust; Derbyshire Wildlife Trust; Kent Wildlife Trust; Essex Wildlife Trust; BBOWT © Natural England