Written question asked by Keith Vaz (Labour) on Monday, 12 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 14 December 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 19 December 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Space

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the military use of space.

Answer: The focus of the United Kingdom Government's space policy is on civil and scientific uses. However, we also derive important security benefits from its military use. Like many countries, the UK uses satellites for a wide range of military functions such as secure communications, meteorological predictions and in the effective monitoring of various arms control treaties. This military use of space is distinct from the deployment of weapons in space. The UK Government has no plans to deploy weapons in space.As one of the Depository States (along with the US and Russia), the UK Government continues to fully support the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which places important constraints on the use of space, including prohibiting the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in space and military activity on the moon and other celestial bodies.The main forum for discussing the military use of space is the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. We have taken part in informal discussions on the possibility of a further treaty banning weapons in space, although no international consensus has been reached on the need for such a treaty. Notwithstanding this, we continue to support the annual resolution on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) at the UN.

Secondary information