UKspace chief demands “stronger focus” on the contribution of Space to UK national civil security

18 September 2008 – John Auburn, VEGA’s Aerospace Business Development Director and Chairman of UKspace, has called upon the UK Government to “reinstate a robust national Space programme” in order to “guarantee national security in an increasingly complex international environment”.

His comments follow the publication of the Space Secures Prosperity report by UKspace, the trade association of the British space industry.

Space Secures Prosperity is a direct response to the UK National Security Strategy published earlier this year. It focuses on the nine Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors and demonstrates the dependencies on space across CNI. UKspace has taken the nine major threats and risks identified in the UK National Security Strategy and shown how the UK’s responses depend upon space.

“There should be a much stronger focus on the contribution of Space to UK national civil security, with rigorous monitoring of threats to military and civil space assets and infrastructure,” says John. “It’s vital that the UK Government acknowledges society’s increasing dependency on Space at all levels, and establishes a strong pan-Government focus for all Space matters – civil, military and security.”

The UK also needs to “strengthen collaboration with Europe on Space security”, as well as build upon existing strong links with the US according to John. This includes “reviewing the UK’s participation in future space surveillance programmes, influencing European Space projects such as Galileo, GMES and the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) system, and seeking to host one of the SSA data centres.”