My Lords, at the request of my noble friend Lord Stansgate, and with his permission, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.
My Lords, the space economy is a top priority for the Government, who have announced a £2.8 billion investment over the spending review for the UK Space Agency, including a £1.7 billion commitment at the last European Space Agency Ministerial Council. We are strategically investing to support sector growth through a new outcomes-based, targeted approach. Through a one-government philosophy, we will grow the space economy by focusing investment on enabling businesses to commercialise and scale.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that reply. Given that, in the space inquiry we conducted, The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out, we identified that the space sector is worth £18.6 billion to the economy, employs 55,000 people and is growing a rate of about 6% a year, can she tell us more about the priorities across government, as space impinges on every aspect of our lives?
I share the enthusiasm of my noble friend, the committee and the report for the space economy. We responded in detail to the recommendations earlier this year. We are setting out our strategic priorities, which, as the committee and my noble friend highlighted, encompassed many aspects of our lives, including defence, economic growth and support for our farming communities. We will continue to focus our spend on the priorities of economic growth and national security outcomes.
My Lords, on the Government’s space plan, will they formally adopt a policy of space debris neutrality, requiring all satellites launched from the UK to have what is called a “designed to demise” commitment to prevent further orbital congestion? With an active debris removal procurement worth some £75 million, how are the Government ensuring that UK-based SMEs are not being edged out by larger international companies for these critical domestic contracts?
The noble Lord raises the important issue of space debris, which creates risks to our critical national infrastructure. We are strengthening UK space surveillance and investing in debris mitigation technologies. We are seen as a leader in space sustainability, including with the international community and His Majesty the King. We are supporting important UK companies such as Astroscale to understand the risks and costs of active debris removal. In fact, there are further announcements today on this important issue of space debris removal.
Does the Minister agree that space still lacks an effective and enforceable legal framework, including liability for the space junk that has just been referred to, which is continuously being fly-tipped in space and is now blighting the few usable orbits around our planet? If so, what are HMG doing to ensure that UK expertise in law and in insurance play leading roles in making space a less lawless frontier?
The UK has a great deal of expertise on space, including on regulatory issues. We continue to collaborate internationally— for example, at the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space—to shape and uphold standards, regulations, norms and agreements on best practices to define the in-orbit regime across the globe.
The first vertical-launch spaceport to receive planning consent was at Sutherland, in the far north of Scotland. However, Orbex, the private entity in the equation, suspended construction of Sutherland’s spaceport in December 2024, with only six months to go until the infrastructure would have been completed. Given the announcement of £1.5 billion in funding for national space programmes, what progress has now been made towards supporting the completion of the spaceport, which has already attracted interest from a number of potential launch providers? At a time when sovereign launch capability is becoming increasingly important, this infrastructure is vital not only for job creation and regional regeneration but for strengthening the UK’s space and defence capabilities. Would the Minister be willing to meet with me and key stakeholders to discuss how this project might be taken forward and how the Government can support its timely delivery?
As I set out in my speech last week, assured access to space is one of the four priorities of the Government’s space policy. As I also set out then, we are pursuing our ambition of assured access to space. Last week, I announced a further £20 million of investment over the spending review to accelerate launch from Scotland. I will be working with industry and international partners to ensure that the UK has assured launch options.
My Lords, is my noble friend the Minister aware of the space department at Northumbria University? If not, would she accept an invitation to visit it and see its extraordinary, cutting-edge research?
Absolutely. One of the great pleasures of covering civil space is the enormity of expertise in our universities and companies. Almost everybody you meet is doing something ground-breaking and impressive. I would be very happy to meet the people suggested by my noble friend.
My Lords, events in Ukraine and Iran are showing the growing military defence importance of satellite communication, navigation and earth observation systems. Given our strengths here in the UK in satellite manufacture and space data services, does the Minister agree that the UK space sector is particularly well suited to dual-use applications that support both economic growth and defensive capability? If so, is now the moment for the Government to look for further ways to promote investment in our satellite manufacturing sector?
The noble Viscount makes an important point. The two priorities of our space policy are economic growth and national security; they are priorities for the whole of government and are central to our approach to space. I co-chair the Space Ministerial Forum with my colleague from the Ministry of Defence, bringing that whole-of-government approach to this important issue. In the speech I made last week on our four priorities, satellite communication was one of them; it is a real priority for the Government.
My Lords, following on from the previous question, there is a clear and urgent strategic demand for a robust, Europe-based polar satellite constellation. This is an area where the UK should be taking a lead, but at the moment it is not. This requires urgent action and sufficient investment. Will the Government undertake to give this area a real boost?