Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
2nd Report - Scotland’s space sector follow-up: launch
Published 10 Sep 2025
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Scotland’s space sector follow-up: launch All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
While Scotland has great potential to be part of a sovereign launch nation and a collaborative European partner, it is increasingly clear that space ambitions cannot be fully fulfilled in isolation. We are pleased to see that space has been included in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, recognising its growing importance to national security. However, as highlighted in the review and in the evidence we have received, the UK’s long-term space ambitions must be grounded in deepened partnerships. To secure long-term resilience, economic visibility and geopolitical relevance, a cooperative approach must be embraced that aligns with European partners and institutions. (Conclusion, Paragraph 73)
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, 2nd Report - Scotland’s space sector follow-up: launch (HC 671), 10 September 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 December 2025 (deadline 10 November 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it recognises the challenges raised by the Committee and "intends to set out our strategic approach" to the Scottish launch sector in a cross-Government space publication scheduled for 2026, while declining some specific recommendations.
- On long-term investment (Recommendation 8), the government "agrees that long-term strategic investment is essential to the success of the UK space sector" and says it "will publish these costed plans in 2026".
- On freeports (Recommendation 2), the government recognises their potential but says it "currently does not intend to expand the Freeport Programme to cover any new sites".
- On responsive launch (Recommendation 5), the Ministry of Defence "is not currently in a position to implement any recommendation related specifically to responsive launch services", citing Space Command's focus on building initial capabilities.
- On the European Launcher Challenge (Recommendation 7), the government "cannot provide specific commitments at this stage" but will write to the Committee following the Council of Ministers. On a Cabinet sub-committee (Recommendations 11 and 12), it "has not committed to establishing" one and "cannot commit" to publishing Space Ministerial Forum minutes.