Two reports published over the past couple of months clearly indicate that the “New Space” concept has well and truly landed. “New Space” is the label attached to the radical shift in the Space Sector make-up, which is looking to exploit the advances in technology development and new sources of funding to establish rapid design, manufacturing and deployment of small, cheap and dispensable (or even replaceable) satellites for an increasing variety of applications, accessible to a growing number of users worldwide.
On 27th October, the OECD published its Space and Innovation report, analysing in great detail the current trends in the Space Sector and the variety of policy responses countries have been adopting. It suggests three approaches for state (and private) actors: reviewing policy in light of new developments, direct involvement in new (downstream) space activities and capturing spin-offs and technology developments. The report optimistically predicts that a new “the space sector seems to be on the verge of a new cycle of development”, with new scientific breakthroughs, technological achievements and a growing market for space(-powered) applications – and all very beneficial to the global economy.
The key contribution of the Space Sector to the economy is also recognised in the European Commission’s Space Strategy for Europe, published on the 26th October. It sets out ways in which the EU seeks to boost growth in the sector and knowledge spill overs in other domains, both through flagship programmes such as Galileo (satellite navigation) and Copernicus (satellite imaging), science and infrastructure investment, as well as financial support for start-ups and spin-outs based on space-related technologies.
Hence Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, noted that although “Space is a key industrial sector in Europe’s economy, and a strategic asset supporting Europe’s autonomy of action at the global stage […], it needs more entrepreneurs and more private investment if it is to stay ahead of the curve.” This can of course only be achieved through public and private actors working together and pulling the (financial) weight.
Of course, these are long-term strategies and it is unclear in what way the UK Government will pursue them, though UK leadership in this area has been very strong in the past. If fact, UK National Space Policy, last updated in December 2015, is very much at the heart of the current OECD and EU thinking, however the changing global context, in particular the role of the UK in European affairs, may well jeopardise our hard-earned position of global leadership in the Space Industry.
We may have to wait until next year’s UK Space Conference, this time in Manchester, to measure the strength of the new Government’s commitment to the sector and also global partners’ reaction to our changing position in the world.
This brief analysis was published in the January-February 2017 edition of the Popular Astronomy magazine by the Society for Popular Astronomy. Image copyright: European Commission.
