ABL's rocket on Unst in the Shetland Islands
On the remote island of Unst in the Shetlands, plans for Britain’s space launch ambitions are starting to take shape.
This weekend, Lockheed Martin revealed it had selected the 88ft RS1 rocket, developed by ABL Space Systems, for launches from the island that could begin as soon as next year. For the UK space industry, which has not completed a physical rocket launch since 1971, it could be a historic moment.
But while commercial ambitions for Britain’s booming domestic space industry are gathering momentum, a Whitehall spat over who is in charge of UK space policy is fuelling uncertainty for civil servants, quangos and the private sector.
The government’s ambition is for the UK to seize 10pc of the global space economy, roughly £40bn, by 2030.
In a shake-up designed to help achieve this, the UK Space Agency is expected to be stripped of its mandate over policy, which will be handed to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). One source described it as a Westminster “land grab” for control of the industry, which ministers view as a key priority for growth after the UK’s exit from the EU.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last month, Kwasi Kwarteng, the new business minister, set out his views: “There is a conversation that we’re resolving of where space policy sits within government. I think BEIS has a very strong claim to [it] and I think it will fit in very strongly with our innovation strategy.”
One government source said it made little sense to have policy for such a key sector not in the hands of a minister. Some MPs have said the agency, composed chiefly of technical experts, was too small to manage policy and deliver on projects.
Under the proposed reorganisation, the UKSA, which has a £577m budget, is expected to be refocused into a delivery agency, fulfilling an agenda set by ministers at BEIS. But not everyone is supportive and some proposals for the industry’s reorganisation have been met with scepticism.
In December, the trade body UKspace warned Britain was at risk of being left behind as a third tier space nation.
The UK space sector has been frustrated by slow progress on policy. Brexit saw Britain lose its place working on Galileo, the EU’s £5bn GPS satellite programme.
While the UKSA has been a key supporter of a number of small projects, some insiders are frustrated that it pushed back so hard against the Government’s deal to rescue OneWeb, which is planning to launch a 650 broadband satellite network.
The UK Space Agency was privately critical of the deal last year, which was supported by Downing Street advisor Dominic Cummings, amid concern over the $500m cost.
A rocket containing OneWeb satellites is launched from Russian soil
Credit: AFP
Labour has accused the Government of “punishing” the space agency. Shadow minister Chi Onwurah accused Kwarteng of “shutting it down by wresting control”. A government source strongly rejected those claims.
In a debate last week, Owen Thompson, the SNP MP for Midlothian, said the UK’s space strategy had been bogged down by “a lot of dither and interdepartmental confusion, and unfortunately a lack of determined leadership from the Government on these regulatory issues”.
Mark Garnier, a Conservative MP and member of the all-party group on space, told Parliament: “I fear that we have lost our way. Our space sector is now languishing behind Italy. Companies seeking to locate here are faced with an extraordinarily confused regulatory landscape.” One particular concern for MPs and industry has been the transfer of launch controls from the UK Space Agency to the Civil Aviation Authority. Industry sources worry the decision could overburden the UK’s tiny rocket launch sector with red tape and “put regulations back a decade” at a time when ministers are eager to promote investment.
There are plenty of efforts to make the UK a player in physical rocket launches, something it has not achieved since the Black Arrow rocket was built in the UK in the 1960s. The last launch was in 1971 from Australia.
In the North Sea, the Shetland Space Centre on Unst — backed by Lockheed Martin — is planning launches by 2022 and has received a £23m injection from the Government.
On Shetland’s mainland, another firm called Skyrora is developing light rockets that will be launched from the UK. In Scotland, Prestwick airport is being touted as a site for horizontal launch — rockets fired from the underside of retrofitted commercial aircraft. Another space port is being planned for the Western Isles.
The launch of a nano rocket in Shetland
In England, Spaceport Cornwall is earmarked for a horizontal launch programme working with Virgin Orbit. It is hoping to enable launches as soon as next year.
MPs, meanwhile, have long been concerned that the UK’s space policy is not joined up. Chris Skidmore, the former Space Minister, says: “The [EU’s] Copernicus project was absolutely crucial and was sitting with Defra. We need a coordinated central strategy.” He has also called for a doubling of the space budget to £1bn to rival France and Germany.
This diffuse landscape was acknowledged by Graham Turnock, the outgoing chief executive of the UKSA, in an email to its 200 staff last month. He said: “There is an immense and growing interest across just about every Government department in space.” He added it was a “difficult and uncertain time” for staff as the future of the agency is thrashed out.
While the UK Space Agency’s role is likely to change, Skidmore says it should get a focused delivery agency to push through launches. He also recommends moving the agency out of London.
Chris Morris, a Conservative MP who chairs Parliament’s Space Group, says: “The government should consider the role of the Space Delivery Agency, responsible across government for the delivery of a national space programme that addresses objectives in military and civil domains.”
While there is a minister with a space brief, Amanda Solloway, that position also includes other roles such as innovation and research. Morris adds it should also “consider a dedicated minister in Government to bring the whole sector together”.
A bulletin to UKSA staff has sought to reassure staff that, while the space agenda remains in flux, it has caught the attention of No 10.
“The PM has a high ambition for the UK in space,” it said. “As expectations on space policy and programmes grow, we will see more people leading work across Government.
“This is an opportunity for the UK Space Agency to benefit from stronger central direction, clearer roles and responsibilities with BEIS, and increased coordination between the civil and defence agendas.”
A BEIS spokesperson said: “All parts of government are working together to further accelerate the growth of the UK’s space sector, which currently raises some £15 billion each year in private investment and employs 42,000 people across the country. The UK Space Agency is fundamental to delivering the government’s global ambitions for space, to unlock innovation, push the frontiers of knowledge and create jobs throughout the UK.”
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