We are committed to growing the UK space sector more broadly and deliver our National Space Strategy ambitions, including by recently investing £1.59 billion in European Space Agency (ESA) programmes. BEIS and MoD are providing more than £8bn over the next decade.

This includes the £50 million available to grow new UK markets for small satellite launch and sub-orbital spaceflight.

This includes:

• £31.5 million to help establish vertical launch services from Scotland;
• Up to £1.3 million to develop business plans for small satellite launch and sub-orbital flight from airports in Machrihanish, Snowdonia and Cornwall;
• £11.3 million as part of £20 million central and local government funding to support horizontal launch by Virgin Orbit from Spaceport Cornwall.

At the time of writing, no launches of OneWeb satellites have taken place since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The next launch is currently scheduled for 23 October 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, using a Launch Vehicle Mark 3 developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Following successful conversations earlier this year, OneWeb recently announced agreements with SpaceX and New Space India to launch satellites from alternative launch facilities in lieu of planned (now cancelled) Soyuz launches.

These launches are subject to the relevant regulatory clearances.

This information is commercially confidential and is a matter for the company.

The Board of OneWeb voted on 3 March to suspend all launches from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. OneWeb’s launch service provider, Arianespace, announced on 4 March it was suspending the use of Russian Soyuz launch vehicles.

Details of OneWeb’s launch agreements with Arianespace are commercially sensitive.

OneWeb’s launches are currently contracted with Arianespace, a French-headquartered multinational company. Arianespace use Russian launch vehicles, launching from the Far-East in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Spaceport Cornwall:

• The UK Space Agency (UKSA) awarded £7.35m to Virgin Orbit to support horizontal launch from Spaceport Cornwall. £4.2m of the UKSA grant has already been disbursed to the grantee for completed milestones. Virgin Orbit’s plans currently anticipate launching from Cornwall Spaceport in the Summer of 2022.

Saxa Vord Spaceport:

• The UK Space Agency awarded £23.5 million, in two separate grants, to Lockheed Martin. This includes £13.5m to establish launch operations at Saxa Vord Spaceport in Shetland and £10m for the research and development, build and flight demonstration of an Orbital Manoeuvring Vehicle (OMV). £5.3m and £8.5 respectively have been disbursed for completed work. Lockheed Martin are currently aiming to launch from Saxa Vord Spaceport in Autumn 2022.

The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) establishes the principles under which US spaceflight technology (including launch vehicles, equipment, information, spacecraft) may be licensed for export by the US authorities to the UK for use in spaceflight activities.

The TSA was negotiated to deliver maximum possible commercial benefit to the UK, permitting spaceports to utilise both US and non-US operators.

The UK has a lot to offer and a lot to gain from working with the US. With the necessary export licences in place, of which the TSA provides the security framework under which the US export approval process can be made easier and quicker, it will allow US satellite customers to launch on UK launchers therefore providing great opportunities for UK launch providers to increase their access to customers from the US.

The UK Spaceflight Programme has provided:

• £23.5 million in two separate grants to Lockheed Martin. This includes £13.5m to establish launch operations at Saxa Vord Spaceport in Shetland and £10m for the research and development, build and flight demonstration an orbital manoeuvring vehicle.
• £7.35m to Virgin Orbit as part of £20m central and local government funding to support horizontal launch by from Spaceport Cornwall.

Securing global security and national security through non-proliferation are intrinsic objectives of the Technology Safeguards Agreement, which seeks to ensure that sensitive space launch technology is protected and may not be accessed by unauthorised parties.

It is fully consistent with obligations under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), to which the United Kingdom and the United States are founding members, and with the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, to which the United Kingdom and United States are subscribing states.

The UK’s observance of international obligations and commitments, in particular in regard to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of their delivery, through its commitments to the multilateral export control regimes, which include the MTCR, and other mechanisms such as the Hague Code of Conduct, has been UK Government policy for many years and was reaffirmed in the written statement to Parliament by the then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skill, Dr Vince Cable, on the 25^th March 2014. In addition, the Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy presented to Parliament by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister by Command Paper 203 (March 2021) highlighted the UK’s continued commitment and importance of safeguarding access to advance sensitive technologies to both State and non-State actors.

The Agreement will be enacted after the Space Industry Regulations 2021, currently before Parliament, are in force. The Space Industry Regulations 2021 provide powers for the government to realise its obligations under the Agreement.

Her Majesty’s Government has noted with interest the successful landing of the Zhurong rover on Mars and we welcome the increased scientific research and understanding of Mars that it will enable.

Her Majesty’s Government is not a signatory to the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; therefore, its principles do not apply to the United Kingdom.

However, the Government continues to support the principle that all nations operating rovers on Mars and other celestial bodies abide by the provisions of the UN Outer Space Treaty. The UK actively participates in the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Subcommittees to define best practice and associated guidelines.

The UK Space Agency has been in regular contact with Shetland Island Council, as we have been with councils in all potential spaceport locations, to understand their plans to support the Shetland Space Centre. These meetings have ensured a collaborative working relationship between the UK Space Agency and Shetland Island Council, and that the Council is aware of the support and engagement forums offered by Government to enable them to harness the opportunities offered by commercial spaceflight. For example, the UK Space Agency invited Shetland Island Council to attend the Regulation plenary sessions as well as put them in contact with relevant officials who can provide clarity around security considerations relating to engagement with other nations. Furthermore, UK Space Agency officials visited Shetland in October 2019 and received a briefing from the Shetland Island Council on their plans to support the Shetland Space Centre.

Regulators will be in a position to start accepting licence applications for spaceports and spaceflight activities once the Space Industry Bill has been enacted and the supporting secondary legislation and guidance are in place.

Our intention is to lay the main statutory instruments in summer 2019, subject to Government priorities and Parliamentary time. This allows time for the necessary detailed policy development, consultation and drafting of secondary legislation and guidance to support a robust and effective licensing regime. This will be done in close liaison with industry and other stakeholders.

Regulators will be in a position to start accepting licence applications for spaceports and spaceflight activities once the Space Industry Bill has been enacted and the supporting secondary legislation and guidance are in place.

Our intention is to lay the main statutory instruments in summer 2019, subject to Government priorities and Parliamentary time. This allows time for the necessary detailed policy development, consultation and drafting of secondary legislation and guidance to support a robust and effective licensing regime. This will be done in close liaison with industry and other stakeholders.