Written question asked by Lilian Greenwood (Labour) on Monday, 23 May 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 May 2016 (named day). It was answered by Robert Goodwill (Conservative) on Thursday, 26 May 2016 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Spaceflight

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the overall cost to the public purse of his Department's work on the consideration of the potential site for a UK spaceport.

Answer: During the Queen’s Speech Transport debate on 19 May, the Secretary of State noted that a range of viable spaceport options had been put forward and that the Department supported those bids. The Secretary of State also set out that the Modern Transport Bill will create the right framework for the market to select what the best location for a UK spaceport will be. The Government’s ambition is that the United Kingdom’s space economy should account for 10% of the global space economy by 2030 - worth some £40 billion per year. In support of this innovative sector, the Department, working with the Civil Aviation Authority, UK Space Agency and interested businesses, has allocated nearly £3.3m within this Parliament to legislate and establish a safe regulatory framework to enable commercial spaceflight in the UK.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 37788
Session: 2016-17
Related items: Spaceflight
Wednesday, 8 June 2016
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Spaceflight
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk