LISA

The UK Government has released two new policies to unlock the potential of the country’s growing space industry.

The two policies, the space Innovation and Growth Strategy (IGS) action plan 2014-2030 and the national space security policy (NSSP) have been framed to achieve a £40bn UK space industry by 2030.

UK Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said the space sector continues to thrive, and is one of the eight technologies with the potential to boost UK growth.

"Space industries already support 95,000 full time jobs and generate £9.1bn for the economy each year, and our response to the growth action plan shows our commitment to secure its future growth and realise ambitions to develop a viable UK space port for commercial space flight," Willetts said.

As part of its response to the Space IGS action plan, the government suggested measures to create and sustain new business in related markets, including the development of a better regional SME community spread across the UK.

It has also committed to provide stronger support for export and agreed further work to improve regulatory framework for space activity.

"Space industries already support 95,000 full time jobs and generate £9.1bn for the economy each year, and our response to the growth action plan shows our commitment to secure its future growth and realise ambitions to develop a viable UK space port for commercial space flight."

In addition, as part of the IGS, the UK Space Agency will issue the first results from the work of a cross-government national space flight coordination group that was established to advance development of a UK space port, and start commercial space flight from the UK.

The UK Space Agency will also double the level of funding of the UK Space for Smarter Government Programme annually from April 2014.

In addition, the National Space Security Policy aims mapping the dependency on space across government, critical infrastructure and key industrial sectors, and assessing the extent of resilience in each of these fields.

There will also be partnership across government and with national and international partners to share capability wherever possible, particularly in the fields of tracking space debris and near-Earth objects.

UK Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne said this first space security policy document highlights the right challenges and brings together the right people from Whitehall, industry and academia to advance the UK’s space services.

"This policy is about galvanising our skills, our resources and our raw talent to promote resilience to the risks of operating in space, in both the civilian and military spheres," Dunne said.

Image: LISA Pathfinder spacecraft going through magnetic testing. Photo: courtesy of Airbus Defence & Space.

Defence Technology