Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the risk to (a) UK national security and (b) the capacity to deliver UK space programmes of the UK not participating in EU space programmes after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government’s intention is for the UK to continue to participate in EU space programmes when we leave the EU. However, the EU’s current offer for UK participation in Galileo does not meet our red lines. My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minster therefore announced that we would not be using Galileo for Defence or Critical National Infrastructure.

As a responsible Government, we are actively mitigating possible risks related to a lack of participation in EU space programmes after we leave the EU. For instance, we are developing options for a UK Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

As a world leader in satellite and secure software technology, the UK space industry is resilient and has the skills, expertise and commitment to deliver future UK space programmes.