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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage investment in British space and satellite companies.

The Government’s intent to grow the UK’s Space sector was set out most recently in our National Space Policy, which we published in 2015. The UK Space Agency deploys a broad range of mechanisms, working with other delivery partners such as Innovate UK, Local Economic Partnerships, the European Space Agency and the Satellite Applications Catapult, to encourage investment in British Space companies. These measures include working closely with industry to identify and remove regulatory barriers to growth, investing in innovative technology needed to enter new space markets and building the national facilities essential to develop the UK’s future space products. We have also set up the structures needed to drive investment and growth, for example, the UK Space Gateway at Harwell in Oxfordshire. The UK Space Agency also works closely with the Department for International Trade to secure overseas inward investment and develop export opportunities for the space industry.