Jacksonville UK Trade Mission: Space Technology Summit
From Agreement to Contract: Mapping UK Space Capability to American Buyers.
The global space economy is worth more than $600bn, and in July the UK Space Agency and Space Florida signed a partnership at Farnborough aimed at winning the UK a bigger share of it, backed by a joint innovation fund.
Jacksonville's stake is Cecil Spaceport: the first licensed horizontal-launch spaceport on the US East Coast, operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, with a 12,500-foot runway, and rocket engine and hypersonic flight testing already under way. Travelling with the delegation is Mark VanLoh, CEO of the authority that runs it.
This session maps where UK capability fits, from Cecil and the UK's spaceport clusters to dual-use technology and supply-chain integration. The customer base is broad, and includes US defence, state and city government, the space primes and commercial operators.
Request a place to hear what they buy and how UK firms get on their supplier lists.
Dedicated Networking Opportunity
This session is followed by scheduled networking with the delegation and guests at The Clarence, 53 Whitehall, London SW1A 2HP.
Sponsor and participants
Sponsor: TBC
UK partner: TBC
Panel: TBC
About Jacksonville's 2026 Trade Mission
Jacksonville, Florida brings its annual trade and investment mission to London from Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October 2026. It is led by Donna Deegan, Mayor of Jacksonville, joined by Shad Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham Football Club, and more than 50 business and civic leaders from the region.
Jacksonville is ranked the #3 large US city for economic growth. Florida has no personal income tax, leads the US in net business relocations, and saw some 698,000 new businesses formed in 2025, more than any other state; Jacksonville is where much of it lands. The city has been called the Wall Street of the South: FIS, Fidelity National Financial and GuideWell are headquartered there, and global banks including Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank run major operations in the city.
The UK connection is already working. The UK and Florida signed their trade and economic cooperation agreement in Jacksonville in November 2023, and Jacksonville's City Council holds a Memorandum of Friendship with the City of London. JAX Hub, the city's fintech innovation programme, is accepting applications from UK companies for its 2026 cohort.
The mission exists to help UK companies succeed in US markets, with summits across finance and fintech, defence, aerospace and space technology, medical services and medtech, construction and real estate, retail and consumer brands, legal services and lawtech, AI and cyber security. Each pairs Jacksonville decision-makers with their UK counterparts. JAXUSA Partnership, the city's economic development agency, travels with the delegation and advises UK companies on entering the market.