This article is a summary of the Satellite Meeting, which followed on from the Discussion Meeting at the Royal Society on ‘Ultra-precision engineering: from physics to manufacture’, held at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire, UK. The meeting was restricted to 18 invited experts in various aspects of precision metrology from academics from the UK and Sweden, Government Institutes from the UK and Germany and global aerospace industries. It examined and identified metrology problem areas that are, or may be, limiting future developments in precision engineering and, in particular, metrology. The Satellite Meeting was intended to produce a vision that will inspire academia and industry to address the solutions of those open-ended problems identified. The discussion covered three areas, namely the function of engineering parts, their measurement and their manufacture, as well as their interactions.