Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Second Report - UK space strategy and UK satellite infrastructure

Science, Innovation and Technology Committee HC 100 Published 4 November 2022

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

37 items (29 recs)

Source

View on Parliament website ↗

Government Response

AI assessment · 37 of 37 classified

Accepted 16

Accepted in Part 3

Acknowledged 11

Deferred 3

Not Addressed 2

Rejected 2

Recommendations

3 results

6 Deferred

Para 43

Considering the importance of developing secure access to PNT services, we are disappointed that the...

Recommendation

Considering the importance of developing secure access to PNT services, we are disappointed that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is delaying the finalisation and publication of the PNT strategy and therefore refusing to commit to the … Read more Considering the importance of developing secure access to PNT services, we are disappointed that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is delaying the finalisation and publication of the PNT strategy and therefore refusing to commit to the critical action that needs to be taken. Although BEIS is in the process of establishing cross-government strategy on PNT, we believe the responsibility for PNT should lie outside of any one Department. The Government should establish the National Security Adviser (NSA) as having overall responsibility for the UK’s access to secure PNT capabilities. The NSA should ensure that the importance of developing secure PNT systems is understood throughout Government and take responsibility for developing a programme and budget for the work that needs to be carried out. The NSA should take guidance from work that has already been undertaken within Government and publish the National PNT Strategy no later than the end of February 2023, including details of the space- and ground-based components that will be used to ensure the UK has sustained, resilient and secure access to PNT services. If the strategy includes the use of the OneWeb LEO Gen2 constellation, the solutions to the technical challenges drawn out in our evidence should be addressed and the Government should provide clarification on why LEO satellites have been chosen over other, more commonly used, space-based PNT systems. In summary, the strategy should set out: (a) the updated review and estimate of the impact of loss of PNT services on the economy; (b) the results of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) programme, and details of which aspects of the proposed system will be taken forward; (c) the UK Space Agency’s analysis of the space-based elements of PNT and details of which of these will be taken forward; and (d) how secure PNT services can be delivered through LEO and the technical challenges that will need to be overcome to achieve th Show less

Government Response Summary

The government has deferred action on the PNT strategy, stating that the cross-government PNT team, now within the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, will complete its work by Spring 2023 to decide on the next steps, including whether to develop and publish documents, strategies, or plans.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

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18 Deferred

Para 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 … Read more

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.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

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35 Deferred

Para 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. … Read more

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.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

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