5th Special Report - Scotland’s space sector follow-up: launch: Government Response

This is the government's response, published 1 December 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.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error