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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of OneWeb's (a) R&D and (b) manufacturing takes place in the UK; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on those proportions in the event that the Government invests in that company's satellite broadband programme.

The Government led a successful bid to acquire OneWeb, who develop cutting-edge satellite technology in the UK and in the United States. The deal will support the UK to be a pioneer in the research, development, manufacturing, and exploitation of novel satellite technologies, whilst boosting UK manufacturing.

This deal will protect 70 existing jobs and the Government will be encouraging future roles to be based in the UK, both in OneWeb itself and in the wider supply chain. The UK will seek to develop further its advanced manufacturing base, making the most of its highly skilled workforce as the hardware is further developed and equipment and services are deployed to make the most of this unique capability.

This Government has made clear its ambitions for space and is developing a new National Space Strategy to bring long-term strategic and commercial benefits to the UK. We are in regular discussions with the space industry as part of this work and how this could be taken forward.