Space

Parliamentary inquiry announced into the work of ESA and UK Space

Posted 19 February 2013

The House of Commons Science and Technology committee is to conduct an inquiry into the work of the European Space Agency (ESA) and UK Space.

Half a dozen key questions have been put forward to help obtain relevant inputs to the inquiry.

The committee seeks written submissions on the following matters:

1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the funding, organisation, and work of the European Space Agency?

2) In light of the European Commission’s recent Communication on relations between ESA and the EU (COM 2012 671), what relationship between ESA, the EU and the UK would provide the most effective governance regime? Why?

3) How effective is the EU’s support for research and innovation in the space sector? What effect have changes to the Multi-Annual Financial Framework had on ESA and support for the space sector from the Horizon 2020 programme?

4) How effective has the UK Space Agency been and what improvements could be made? Is the UK effectively exploiting opportunities for growth in the space sector or could more be done?

5) Does the UK get good value for money from its membership of ESA? How does its return on investment compare to other countries?

6) How resilient is the UK’s space-based infrastructure? Are threats from space debris or solar activity being appropriately mitigated? What role do, or should, ESA and the UK Space Agency play in addressing these issues?

Visit the Paliament website to submit written evidence or get more information .