Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they are making to human spaceflight, what assessment they have made of whether the UK should establish its own human space flight programme, and what estimate they have made of when a British mission will visit the moon and Mars.

The UK makes a significant contribution to human space exploration via investment through the European Space Agency (ESA). Rosemary Coogan is now training with NASA in Houston ahead of a long-term mission to the International Space Station. John McFall and Meganne Christian, who are both in the ESA astronaut reserve, are currently training at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany to prepare them for future space missions. These missions are not yet identified.

The UK Space Agency is also working with Axiom Space to explore the potential for a first of-a-kind commercially sponsored UK astronaut mission to the ISS. We have not made a specific estimate of when a British mission will visit the moon or Mars.