Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for sites to be informed whether they have been successful in securing a grant towards development as a spaceport.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Our Industrial Strategy recognises the role of new markets like space launch in driving growth across the UK. The Government is delivering a major programme to enable companies to offer small satellite launch and sub-orbital spaceflight from UK spaceports
We have considered 26 proposals for grant funding and expect to make an announcement on the results of this process shortly.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for sites to be informed whether they have been successful in securing a grant towards development as a spaceport.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Our Industrial Strategy recognises the role of new markets like space launch in driving growth across the UK. The Government is delivering a major programme to enable companies to offer small satellite launch and sub-orbital spaceflight from UK spaceports
We have considered 26 proposals for grant funding and expect to make an announcement on the results of this process shortly.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is giving to UK companies involved with the Galileo project who already have to deicide where they will locate their supply chains after March 2019.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 16 January 2018 to Question 122184. The principle set out in the Joint Report issued by the UK and EU negotiating teams on 8 December was that UK entities would be able to continue to participate in all EU programmes financed by the current Multiannual Financial Framework which ends in 2020. There will be further discussions on the individual programmes during Phase 2 of the negotiations. My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I continue to engage regularly with the UK space sector companies involved in the Galileo programme.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings he has had and with which companies on investment uncertainties in respect of the Galileo project after March 2019.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State, my predecessor (Jo Johnson) as Minister for Space, and the UK Space Agency have engaged with many UK space companies and the UK space trade association to discuss issues relating to business and space, including the EU Galileo Programme. These views are informing Government’s approach to the ongoing EU exit negotiations.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advice his Department has given to UK companies involved in the Galileo Project who are already having to decide where they will locate their supply chains after March 2019.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 16 January 2018 to Question 122184. The principle set out in the Joint Report issued by the UK and EU negotiating teams on 8 December was that UK entities would be able to continue to participate in all EU programmes financed by the current Multiannual Financial Framework which ends in 2020. There will be further discussions on the individual programmes during Phase 2 of the negotiations. My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I continue to engage regularly with the UK space sector companies involved in the Galileo programme.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing to UK companies that have already been excluded from bidding for projects from the European Space Agency on the basis that the UK is leaving the EU.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The European Space Agency (ESA) is independent of the European Union. Therefore our support for the European Space Agency is largely unaffected by the decision to leave the European Union. Indeed we made subscriptions of €1.4 bn at the ESA Ministerial meeting in Lucerne in December 2016 which is allowing UK companies to bid for ESA grants and contracts.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK leaving the EU will affect the contracts to produce the payloads for the European Union Global Navigation satellite system in the UK.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Joint Report issued by the UK and EU negotiating teams on 8 December was clear that UK entities would be able to continue to participate in all EU programmes, including the space programmes, financed by the current Multiannual Financial Framework, which ends in 2020. Clearly there will be further discussions on exactly what this means for the individual programmes during Phase 2 of negotiations, but the principle set out in the report is that eligibility of entities located in the UK will be unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department supports the development of a domestic UK satellite launch capability.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government has an exciting ambition to take the UK into the commercial space age. We are actively supporting the development of a commercial market for small satellite launch and sub-orbital flight in the UK, by helping industry to develop new technologies, infrastructure and services. This will establish the UK as a world leading destination for space launch.
We are putting in place new regulation, working internationally to secure agreements and evaluating proposals for grants that would help get the first missions from the UK off the ground.
We welcome engagement from any company seeking to offer small satellite launch capability from a UK spaceport.