Satellites: Adverse Effects on Astronomy

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Vallance of Balham

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The next UK launches are planned from Scotland, and several operators, including Orbex, Skyrora, and RFA are targeting orbital launches in 2025-26. The launch date depends on a range of factors, including technical readiness of launch operations, but we believe that we have a particularly important launch site which leads directly to polar orbit, which is of particular importance.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, I am very interested in the cost of satellites coming down quite so dramatically. Is this something to do with the private sector producing satellites much more cheaply than NASA used to do as a state-owned organisation?