UK sets out plans to be a ‘meaningful actor’ in new space race
Boris Johnson has today set out plans to make the UK a “meaningful actor” in the new space race, with the capability to launch satellites from sovereign territory by 2022 a priority.
Today’s Integrated Review of the UK’s foreign and defence policy said that space would become one of the key sites of international competition over the coming decades.
At the moment, the UK is lagging behind international rivals such as the US, Russia, China, and the EU, and is reliant on allies for access to critical services.
But all that could change under the country’s first national space strategy, which will be launched this year.
Through it, the review said “[We will] ensure the UK has the capabilities to protect and defend our interests in a more congested and contested space domain”.
Top of its priority list are plans to begin launching satellites into space from the Scotland by the end of next year.
This is the first stage in developing a “UK-wide market for spaceflight services”.
The review said that the ability to do so would give the country “greater strategic autonomy and flexibility”.
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Some of the funding for the advances will come from £6.6bn set aside for R&D across a range of areas, including AI and cyberspace.
2021 will also see the launch of a new “space command” to give the armed forces “cutting-edge capabilities to advance UK interests on earth and in space”.
It also said it would support the space industry to realise the economic benefits of this “new and dynamic market”.
“We will promote a whole-of-life offer from R&D through finance to satellite operations, launch capability data applications and end-of-life services”, the report added.
Currently, the sector employs 42,000 people in the UK, and generates £14.8bn of income each year.
Currently, government and industry have set a target to grow the UK’s share of the global space market to 10 per cent by 2030.
The government has already awarded grants totalling nearly £40m to establish commercial vertical and horizontal small satellite launches from UK spaceports.