Tom Mueller, the man who built the first engines for SpaceX and calls himself employee number one, has delivered a blunt verdict on Britain’s space ambitions. Speaking exclusively from his workshop in California, Mueller told me the UK’s homegrown rocket industry is ‘decades behind’ and ‘needs more than wishful thinking’.
The timing is no coincidence. This week, the UK Space Agency announced a £50 million fund to launch satellites from British soil by 2028. Ministers talk of a ‘new space age’. But Mueller, who walked away from SpaceX in 2020 after helping build the Falcon 9, is not impressed. ‘I’ve seen the plans. They’re not serious. You don’t catch up by throwing government money at contractors who’ve never built a rocket,’ he said.
Mueller’s career is a roadmap of American dominance. At SpaceX, he led the team that created the Merlin engine, the workhorse that slashed launch costs and made reusable rockets a reality. Before that, he was a propulsion engineer at TRW, designing engines for NASA’s Titan missiles. He knows what it takes, and he says the UK doesn’t have it.
Sources close to the UK Space Agency confirm that at least two of the six companies shortlisted for the new fund have no flight experience. One has never built a full-scale engine. Another is relying on a design that failed in tests last year. The agency declined to comment on specific bidders, but a spokesperson said the selection process is ‘rigorous and focused on safety and viability’.
Mueller is not the only skeptic. Documents obtained by this newspaper show that a confidential review by the Royal Aeronautical Society last month warned the UK’s space strategy is ‘overly optimistic’ and ‘lacks a clear path to commercial viability’. The review, marked ‘not for publication’, says the government’s target of capturing 10 per cent of the global launch market by 2030 is ‘unrealistic without radical changes’.
The UK has tried before. The Black Arrow programme, cancelled in 1971 after just one successful launch, remains the only British rocket to reach orbit. Since then, successive governments have poured billions into companies like Virgin Orbit, which collapsed last year, and Reaction Engines, which ran out of cash before its hypersonic engine could fly. ‘They keep buying tickets to the same show and wondering why it’s cancelled,’ Mueller said.
But there are glimmers of hope. In Cornwall, a company called Skyrora has built a small rocket and tested its engines. In Scotland, Orbex has raised private cash and secured a launch license. Both are on the government’s shortlist. But neither has launched a payload to orbit. ‘Beautiful engineering isn’t the same as a successful business,’ Mueller said. ‘Ask the guys at Blue Origin.’
Mueller’s warning carries weight because he has nothing to gain. He left SpaceX after disagreements over the direction of the Starship project and now consults for a handful of startups. He says he was approached by UK officials last year but turned down the offer. ‘They wanted me to tell them how to build a cheap rocket. I told them basic physics doesn’t care about your budget.’
The UK Space Agency insists it will not repeat past mistakes. A spokesman said: ‘We are learning from international partners and investing in cutting-edge technology. The UK has world-class expertise in satellite design and small launchers. We are confident the market will deliver.’
Mueller is not convinced. ‘You can’t fix a broken engine by changing the paint job. Until the UK admits it doesn’t have a real rocket industry, they will keep burning cash while the rest of the world leaves them in the dust.’
For now, the countdown continues. But the clock may be ticking on Britain’s space dreams.
