Select committee: Defence Committee
Recommendation 13
Third Report - Defence Space: through adversity to the stars?
Published 19 Oct 2022
Paragraph 110
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee Space Defence All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The investment in new space capabilities set out in the Defence Space Strategy, and the procurement of the next generation of Skynet communications satellites, will provide a clear opportunity for the MoD to make a positive long-term impact on the sustainability and productivity of the UK’s space industry. The Department should explain in its response to this report how it will ensure that its investment in the sector maximises benefits to the UK by growing and sustaining a skilled workforce, attracting investment, rewarding innovation, providing meaningful engagement with SMEs and adding social value. The Department should also provide an update on Skynet 6, including expected contract award dates for the Service Delivery Wrap and Enduring Capability strands of the programme.
From: Defence Committee, Third Report - Defence Space: through adversity to the stars? (HC 182), paragraph 110, 19 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 January 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out how space governance, skills, space domain awareness, navigation, procurement and international work are being taken forward, without adopting the Committee's call for a Minister for Space within the Cabinet Office.
- On governance, it says discussions on space "will be taken by the most relevant Cabinet Committee", and that the Space Directorate's transition into "extant structures" is part of integrating space into business as usual.
- On skills, it says a new foundational space course will be integrated across all Defence entry-level training "next year", and that an Invitation to Tender for the UK Space Academy will be initiated before the end of March 2023.
- On navigation, it says a BEIS PNT project team "will be completed by Spring 2023" and will help decide next steps. It says the Space-based PNT Programme "successfully concluded", with its analysis to be considered by that team.
- On space domain awareness, it states Defence is investing "£85 million over ten years" and that it expects to publish capability goals, including for SDA, in early 2023.