How can the UK become the European Leader in space? – How do we build on the Space Industry Act?

A panel discussion with:

• Jesse Norman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport
• Patrick Wood, UK Country Executive, Lockheed Martin Space
• Air Marshal E J Stringer CB CBE, Director General Joint Force Development and Defence Academy
• Gabriel Elefteriu, Senior Research Fellow, Policy Exchange

Background

Developing over the last fifteen years, the rise of ‘NewSpace’ and the commercial space industry looks to fundamentally change the business model of the space industry. At the same time as disruptive start-ups are lowering costs, new technologies from reusable launch vehicles to sub-orbital spaceflight are rapidly expanding the industry’s fundamentals. Space matters not just for its scientific or military purposes, but increasingly as a key enabler of other industries from agri-tech to transport.

The Government has chosen the space industry as one of the first six key challenges to be targeted by the new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, with £100 million of funding for a new National Satellite Testing Facility. At the same time, the Government has launched a new series of grants to support the development of new spaceports, while the Space Industry Act aims to reduce regulatory barriers to commercial spaceflight.