Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of progress towards the CLEAR UK Space Agency Mission de-orbiting two satellites by 2026.

The ‘CLEAR’ debris removal mission, led by ClearSpace UK, passed its Preliminary Design Review in April 2024. Since then, through phase two of the UK Space Agency’s active debris removal (ADR) programme, CLEAR has undergone £2,350,000 of derisking activities to enhance the technology readiness levels of critical mission systems and refine mission costs.

CLEAR’s progress is in line with UK Space Agency (UKSA) mission planning. Subject to the Spending Review outcome, UKSA is developing the business case for phase three of the ADR programme which, if successful, will be published for tender in mid-2025 and awarded to one supplier for mission launch in 2028.