Government Response: Scotland's space sector follow-up:
launch
Responding to a Scottish Affairs Committee report on Scotland's
space launch sector, the UK Government has committed to setting
out its strategic approach to support the sector in 2026.
The Committee's report, published in
September 2025, warned that Scotland was at risk of losing a
“generational opportunity” to become the European leader in space
launch. The cross-party committee urged the UK Government to
commit to sustained investment in the sector to ensure it
retained its “first mover advantage” in commercial small
satellite launch.
The UK Government's response
to this report, published today, agreed with the Committee's
recommendations that long term, strategic investment commitment
is essential to the success of the UK's space sector.
The Government states in its response that it plans to publish a
new cross-government space publication in 2026, which would set
out its strategic approach and priorities over the spending
review period. In line with the committee's recommendations, the
UK Government outlined that this would provide the space launch
industry with the clarity and confidence it needs.
The committee also recommended that the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
should work with the UK Space Agency and Scottish stakeholders to
integrate defence priorities into the launch sector. The UK
Government clarified that the MoD is working closely with the
Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to develop this
publication and a “one-government” capability-led approach to
space.
However, in its response the UK Government caveated this by
stating that space launch was a high-risk industry, meaning the
government “takes on a risk when investing” in the sector. It
clarified that this meant it would not be able to “guarantee
success in building Scottish launch at any cost”.
, Chair of the Scottish
Affairs Committee, said:
“With five out of the UK's seven developing spaceports
located in Scotland, we have real potential to become work leader
in satellite space launch. However, it was clear to the committee
that unless the UK Government moves further and faster to support
the sector, Scotland will lose out on this generational
opportunity.
“With this in mind, I'm pleased to see the UK Government
agrees with our assessment. I welcome the Government's commitment
to set out its strategic priorities and costed plans for the
sector in 2026. The Committee will examine this publication, to
see whether it can provide Scotland's space launch industry with
the confidence and clarity it needs to scale up and realise the
UK's potential as a serious contender on the global launch
stage.”
