Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Deferred
Paragraph: 95
We commend the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s approach to promoting the sustainable...
Recommendation
We commend the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s approach to promoting the sustainable and safe use of space by developing a “regulatory road map” for the sustainable use of space and working with like- minded nations to promote the safe use of space. The Department should publish this roadmap no later than the end of February 2023 and include what steps it will take to try and establish the “critical mass” required to form a consensus on the sustainable and safe use of space.
Government Response Summary
The government is working to develop a roadmap for the sustainable use of space, aiming to reach consensus and deliver it by the summer of 2023, building on the recently announced Plan for Space Sustainability.
Paragraph Reference:
95
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Government Response: UK space strategy and UK satellite infrastructure 11 Work is underway to maintain momentum on the commitments made in the National Space Strategy to deliver goals on sustainability. We are working at pace to develop a road map which brings together government and sector ambitions and actions to prioritise and seek innovative solutions for the sustainable use of space. We hope to reach consensus and deliver a roadmap that all stakeholders can support by the summer of 2023. This will build on the recently announced Plan for Space Sustainability which set out four priority areas of activity, including regulatory reform, investment in and support to global adoption of Long-Term Sustainability standards through UNOOSA, investments in core sustainability programmes for Active Debris Removal and In Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing, and development of an industry led Kitemark, or standard, for sector wide sustainable operations. All have been progressed since their announcement in June 2022 and form part of our space sustainability roadmap development work. The UK already has the most modern space regulatory framework in the world, and we are building on this in collaboration with industry to utilise use our regulatory regime to bolster the UK, and create new standards which incentivise and reward best practice in this modern space age.