A positive plan for a new frontier: James Araci reviews the United Kingdom's space strategy.

AuthorAraci, James

When Cyclone Harold hit the northern Vanuatu islands of Espiritu Santo and Pentecost in 2020, it was a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour and gusts of 235 kilometres per hour. During this cyclone, one of the most severe storms ever to hit the region, a UK research team used satellite imagery to provide detailed insight into the damage to infrastructure, including roads and bridges. This helped local responders deliver direct relief to the places most in need of help. (1)

The UK researchers who volunteered to help in the disaster response effort were working on the CommonSensing project, which is funded by the UK Space Agency's space for sustainable development initiative, the International Partnership Programme (IPP). (2) Their efforts were in conjunction with the United Nations Operational Satellite Centre Applications Programme (UNOSAT), which is part of the UN Institute for Training and Research. This specialises in rapid post-disaster damage mapping, particularly the severity and extent of building damage.

This example demonstrates both the United Kingdom's recognition of the importance and value of using satellite technology to increase Pacific Islands countries' access to space information, but also the United Kingdom's emphasis on international collaboration to advance space innovation. Space technology has an increasingly valuable role in the South Pacific, covering a range of vital services from helping with agricultural production to better predicting rising sea levels.

The United Kingdom has been assessing the transformational potential of space technology and the vital role of international collaboration. Two documents over the last year have highlighted this--the United Kingdom's Integrated Review and the new National Space Strategy.

The launch of the United Kingdom's first National Space Strategy (3) in September 2021 set out the intent for the United Kingdom to use space to deliver for British citizens and the world. It also sent a further signal of the United Kingdom's recognition of the transformational role that innovation, including space technology, plays not only in the South Pacific, but worldwide.

The roots of the new direction for British space activity are found in the United Kingdom government's Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, (4) published in March 2021. The review set out the British government's vision for the United Kingdom's role in the world over the next decade. This includes increased British engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, where it sees the future geopolitical and economic centre of gravity, and significant reference to space.

The review emphasised how technology, including space innovation, will play a more prominent role in issues such as security, defence, development and foreign policy. The review set out a strategic framework for the British government's overarching national security and international policy objectives, helping set the context for our new National Space Strategy.

Our new strategy recognises that the cost and complexity of acting in space has fallen dramatically. Factors such as miniaturisation, regulatory reform and increased private capital have reduced the barriers to space, allowing more countries and commercial players to enter a field once available only to a select few. Space presents a significant opportunity: the United Kingdom's Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy forecasts that the space economy will grow from an estimated 270 billion [pounds sterling] in 2019 to 490 billion [pounds sterling] by 2030.

The National Space Strategy sets five goals for the United Kingdom in space: growing the space economy, promoting our values of an open and stable international order in space, supporting research and innovation, defending national interests and using space for global challenges such as climate change.

The importance of international partnerships is set out in both the Integrated Review and the space strategy. Research collaboration is an area where the United Kingdom has lots to offer, including in the South Pacific. The United Kingdom's expertise in satellite technology and data services allows us to support other countries with tackling global development challenges. We already partner with several Pacific Islands countries to tackle regional issues, such as the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.

Global warming caused by climate change is generating fluctuating weather patterns, rising sea levels and extreme weather events that are already severely affecting Pacific Islands countries. Numerous space initiatives are already underway to help mitigate climate change in the region.

Much of this work has been delivered through the UK Space Agency's IPP, the world's largest sustainable development...

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