Today, the Commons Defence Select Committee issued a report titled “Defence Space: From Adversity to the Stars?” ‘ which claims that Britain has fallen behind other countries in space. It also claims that the government’s position on space “lacked sufficient clarity and direction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the 41-page report, Britain is ranked third in the world for its space programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States, China, and Russia have all been designated as top-tier space powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, Japan, France, and Germany were considered tier two, and Britain trails all of them in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Committee’s chairman, senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, stated, “Over this inquiry, we heard that the UK is, at best, a third-rank space power, lagging behind Italy, and while the Government has acknowledged there is work to be done, the Whitehall machine is not moving fast enough.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following Brexit, the United Kingdom failed to develop its own satellite navigation system, as Theresa May withdrew from the European Union’s own system, known as the Galileo project, in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britain had already invested \u00a31.2 billion in the scheme, which was criticised at the time by Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative attorney general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To address the UK’s lack of space enterprise, the report proposes creating a new Cabinet Office position for a Minister for Space to “provide central leadership on space.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The committee calls for the appointment of a Minister for Space within the Cabinet Office to provide clear centralised direction and accountability in taking forward the UK’s civil and defence ambitions in space,” it says.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, the Commons Defence Select Committee issued a report titled “Defence Space: From Adversity to the Stars?” ‘ which claims that Britain has fallen behind other countries in space. It … <\/p>\n