There have been many ambitious ministerial proclamations about the UK regaining its sovereign space capability, more than half a century after the launch of the Black Arrow rocket from Woomera in Australia. The government has tried to turn Orbex into its successor, enabling the UK to lead Europe\u2019s space efforts in putting small commercial satellites into space.<\/p>\n
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A CGI illustration shows a launch from the SaxaVord spaceport on Unst. But it could be a long time before a British rocket launches \u00a9 SaxaVord\/PA<\/p>\n
But progress has been painfully slow, with the last attempt failing in 2023: a Virgin Orbit plane that took off from Cornwall carrying a rocket did not complete<\/a> its satellite mission. Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, announced his resignation last week after the government decided to fold it back into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.<\/p>\n While government talk is cheap, launching rockets into space is not. Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX plans to raise $50bn<\/a> at a valuation of about $1.5tn in an initial public offering this year, but the government is quietly throttling back its ambitions for a UK equivalent. \u201cI have never seen the evidence that they were really serious,\u201d says Bleddyn Bowen, associate professor in astropolitics at Durham University.<\/p>\n Ministers have not yet decided, but the UK may keep supporting Orbex\u2019s attempts to launch from SaxaVord under European ownership and treat British control of a strategic rocket base as sufficient. That would fall short of Johnson\u2019s aspirations but it would save money. Britain would remain, as a House of Lords report<\/a> put it last year, \u201ca middle-sized space power with a limited budget\u201d.<\/p>\n This is not disastrous as long as the UK maintains co-operation with the US and Europe. UK defence satellites have been launched by SpaceX and most of the UK Space Agency\u2019s budget is funnelled through the European Space Agency. UK funding for the ESA\u2019s European Launcher Challenge for rockets could finance Orbex\u2019s launch, while Germany backs RFA and Isar Aerospace.<\/p>\n The UK has an innovative space industry, including Glasgow\u2019s cluster<\/a> of companies manufacturing small satellites of the kind that could be carried to space from SaxaVord. The sector has expanded from about 200 companies two decades ago to 1,900 today, although more than 60 per cent of them are small, with annual turnovers of less than \u00a3260,000.<\/p>\n But there are good reasons why other countries are investing more than the UK in establishing space sovereignty (Germany plans to spend<\/a> \u20ac35bn on military uses by 2030). The war in Ukraine and weakening US support for Nato have made defence autonomy critical, and orbital satellites are integral to many industries, from communications to energy and transport.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n
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