Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Recommendation 35
35
Deferred
Paragraph: 162
While we accept that the scope of the UK space industry is quickly changing and...
Recommendation
While we accept that the scope of the UK space industry is quickly changing and that the Government must take an adaptable approach to measuring its success, dropping headline targets when producing strategies and plans indicates a lack of ambition. If the implementation of the new National Space Strategy is to be assessed effectively, we must be able to observe if positive changes have been achieved in the space sector against some indication of what success looks like. The Government and UK Space Agency should publish the metrics by which the progress of the UK’s space sector will be measured (including a justification for why these metrics have been chosen) and set a clear target against which the success of the sector can be judged. These should be published alongside the implementation plan.
Government Response Summary
The government is leading work to identify a coherent set of UK space capability needs and will publish developed capability goals in Spring 2023, with further work to identify how the capabilities could be achieved to follow.
Paragraph Reference:
162
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
DSIT are leading work across government to identify a coherent set of UK space capability needs. This work is identifying priority space use cases across government, and particularly where shared by multiple departments. The work will further develop Government’s understanding of how the public sector currently uses space, and identify opportunities for partnering with the sector, academia, and international partners to maximise the benefits of public investment. The developed capability goals, along with more detail on how our space sector policy will enable them, will be published in Spring 2023. By developing a coherent set of capability goals for the whole of government, this work will help communicate our longer term ambitions and priorities, helping ensure the sector can receive clear demand signals to support effective planning and prioritisation by the sector. Following publication of the capability goals in early 2023, further work will identify how the capabilities could be achieved, including consideration of the benefits of accessing commercial solutions, collaborative development with international partners, or developing UK-owned sovereign capabilities. The potential for dual use, and the requirements that would place on capabilities, will be a core aspect of these considerations.