Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has for a joint, multi-year national space portfolio between his Department and the Ministry of Defence to support the implementation of the National Space Strategy.

In September 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Secretary of State for Defence published the UK’s first joint civil and military National Space Strategy. A core part of that strategy is delivering the defence space portfolio, which will support our goals in space, including both protecting and defending the UK and supporting economic growth.

The Ministry of Defence is investing an extra £1.4bn in Defence space technologies over the next 10 years. This is in addition to the £5bn investment in Skynet satellite communications over a similar timeframe. This represents a significant increase in Government funding for the UK space sector and will play a part in stimulating innovation, commercialisation, and growth across the wider sector. Defence will utilise elements of the Defence Space Portfolio funding to further support Space Science & Technology (which includes Research & Development), alongside existing funding.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with the Ministry of Defence to understand the opportunities and challenges to enable the UK’s space sector to grow and flourish, and I look forward to continuing to engage in that process as we implement the National Space Strategy.