Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what public funding has been allocated to support the Astrea programme; what applications for funds for that programme his Department has received and under which Government programmes; and what plans he has for future funding of that programme.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has provided grant support of £32M to support three programmes; ASTRAEA 1 and 2 and 3A since 2006.

In 2015, the ASTRAEA consortium applied for additional support for a £55M collaborative programme via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), requesting a £26M grant. The application was not approved.

We continue to work with the ASTRAEA consortium and the wider Unmanned Air Vehicle community on how best to support the development of this market and will consider requests for funding support that deliver value for money for the UK.