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LONDON — The U.K. space policy is too dependent on foreign-owned satellites and should do more to ensure the growth of the sector benefits the British economy, said former Science Minister Chris Skidmore.
Space contributes about £300 billion to the U.K.’s economic output annually and this is forecast to grow to £340 billion by 2030.
However, Skidmore told the House of Commons Thursday that “worryingly, only 10 percent of that activity is actually U.K.-own.”
“There’s a huge issue of sovereignty we need to tackle when it comes to U.K. space industry,” Skidmore said during a backbench debate. “Ninety percent of our satellite activities is by foreign-owned [companies]. We really need to look again at what we can deliver for the future.”
The debate took place as the government works on a long-delayed national space strategy, expected to be published in the next six months.
Outlining proposals to boost the industry, Skidmore said the U.K. government should double its anual space budget to £1 billion in order to compete with Europe’s space leaders. The current spend is about a third of France’s space budget and around half of Germany’s, he said.
Of that additional funding, £250 million should be set aside for a National Procurement Fund, with £150 million going to a new Space Innovation Fund, Skidmore recommended.
“This would ensure that the U.K. can really be on a par with other European nations and other international countries putting the space industry right at the centre of vision for a new Global Britain,” he said.
The former Conservative minister and MP for Kingston also proposed creating a new delivery agency for space projects such as horizontal launches, which should co-exist with the UK Space Agency.
Science minister Amanda Solloway replied she “couldn’t agree more about what we can do to seize this opportunity.”
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