MP says government ‘must engage with Northern Isles space industry’ following defence review
SHETLAND’s MP has urged the defence secretary to ensure SaxaVord Spaceport and the surrounding communities are “fully engaged” with the UK Government following the release of its strategic defence review (SDR).
Alistair Carmichael noted the important role of the space industry in the government’s defence policy, and welcomed the proposal for a cabinet sub-committee to set the strategic approach to space.
SaxaVord in Unst is the UK’s only fully licensed spaceport and it has been mooted that some future launches could be for defence related purposes.
Scottish Affairs Committee chair Patricia Ferguson MP told Shetland News after a visit to SaxaVord last month that “these days in particular you want to have sovereign defence capability, so it [SaxaVord] could be a really useful part of that”.
The SDR said that “assured access to operate in, from, and through space underpins the UK’s security, prosperity, and daily life”.
It added that “defence must urgently develop the resilience of its military space systems”.
In March it was also announced that SaxaVord Spaceport and German company Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) would be supporting the launch of intelligence gathering and monitoring satellites as part of a UK-German defence co-operation.
UK science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said in May that the government has been “working to bolster the UK’s ability to launch into space so that we can boost our collective security both domestically and for our allies as well”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Carmichael said: “The review describes responsibility for space policy within government as ‘fragmented’, so its proposal for a ‘reinvigorated cabinet sub-committee’ to set the strategic approach to space is to be welcomed.
“That will clearly have significant implications for the development of a vertical-launch satellite facility at SaxaVord spaceport in Shetland.
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“Will the Secretary of State ensure that hardwired into that sub-committee is a process of engagement for the operators at SaxaVord and the communities that host them, so that both might be empowered to deliver on this most important strategic objective for the country as a whole?”
Responding for the government, the secretary of state for defence John Healey said: “At the heart of the SDR’s insight and recommendations is a new relationship between government and industry – one that we have already started to put in place and that allows industry and potential investors to see the challenges that we face and contribute their ideas and innovation to solving them.
“That principle will be applied just as much in space as it will in other areas of new capabilities that we need to develop.”
Speaking afterwards, Carmichael said that “no-one can be in any doubt following the strategic defence review of the vital importance of the space sector to our national defence, and by extension SaxaVord spaceport as the UK’s only licensed vertical launch site”.
“The secretary of state’s words are encouraging – albeit a little vague – but we need to see what this new relationship between government and industry looks like in the real world,” he added.
“There is an enormous opportunity for our economy and our defence capabilities from the space industry – the government must do its part to seize that opportunity.”
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