David Cowan: A new age of British discovery

Can we find hope for the future in the stars?

Science and technology have always been at the heart of economic and cultural dynamism. The list of British inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and industrialists is a long one. To this day, it inspires pride in what our nation and its people can achieve. Malthusian predictions of demographic and economic collapse have been thwarted, time and again, by humankind’s ability to find more and better ways of responding to resource scarcity. Looking towards space is not a retreat into the realm of science fiction but an urgent and necessary part of opening the next chapter of progress and abundance.

Nations are racing to the stars with the promise of lucrative mining opportunities on asteroids and the moon’s surface where deposits of rare metals can be found and take pressure off the Earth’s resources and environment. This includes titanium, silicon, and lithium that is needed for manufacturing electric vehicles and wind turbines. Helium-3 could help harness nuclear fusion. Frozen water around the lunar south pole is a source of oxygen and hydrogen for potential moon colonisers. Already, the United States and China are working hard to expand their presence in space with plans for the first moon landings in more than fifty years.

But unlike the old Cold War with the USSR, today’s space race has billionaire businessmen involved as well as nation states. SpaceX and Rocket Lab have manged to radically cut the cost of launching rockets into space, opening space exploration for a new wave of start-ups. The future of space exploration depends on collaboration between government agencies and private companies. For example, Nasa is working with Lunar Outpost to collect and study soil from the moon, which will be vital to starting mining operations. Nasa has also agreed multi-billion dollar contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop lunar landers.

British spacepower can help shape this new space race. The UK is a founding member of the European Space Agency (ESA), providing £441 million per annum on average as well as three astronauts, and has access to both the International Space Station and the Nasa-led Artemis program. British industry is playing a major role in developing the Lunar Gateway and the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover. Space launch sites have been built in Shetland, Sutherland, and Newquay to deliver sovereign launch capability (although the first launch earlier this year was a failure). UK Space Command was established by the Royal Air Force in 2021 as part of a multilateral coalition led by the United States.

Satellites have become critical infrastructure for British prosperity and security, supporting weather monitoring, telecommunications, and navigation. The falling size and cost of satellites is increasing our reliance on this vital technology. This in turn benefits universities and research centres across the country, such as the Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh which helped construct the Nasa James Webb Space Telescope. Innovative technology developed for space exploration can also bring broader benefits for the economy and society. For example, the ESA’s Gaia mission to create a 3D map of the Milky Way in 2013 led to advances in diagnosing brain tumours.

Since 2015, the global space sector has grown by 21 percent, of which 17 percent is in the UK. The British space industry employs 48,800 people and is valued at £17.5 billion, creating clusters of activity right across the country. Labour productivity is 2.5 times the national average. This highly productive sector generates investment, high skills, high wages, innovation, and cultural influence that the UK desperately needs more of. But the UK is at risk of falling behind just when the space race is really taking off.

Leaning into his enthusiasm for science and technology, the Prime Minister should convene a summit for British space industry leaders and give a keynote speech at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (the home of British astronomy). This would be an opportunity for the Prime Minister to present himself as an Anglofuturist, a true candidate for change, with an inspiring and ambitious programme of national spacepower development. This would be based on two major strands of action.

Transform the UK Space Agency

Founded in 2010, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) helps direct investment into the space industry, manage international partnerships, lead missions, and develop new technologies. But it is capable of much more with help from an active state.

• Increase the UKSA budget to £2 billion, which would match major European competitors such as France and Germany.

• Streamline procurement for space-related services to allow the whole of government to become an anchor customer, instead of relying on individual departments.

• Authorise the UKSA to establish a National Space Programme and British astronaut corps separate from the ESA.

• Appoint a new Minister for Space, based in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with responsibility for cross-governmental support.

Grow sovereign space capabilities

British spacepower should be measured by capabilities as well as GDP. Reducing our reliance on multilateral cooperation for critical infrastructure in space will help the UK to become more secure, attract more businesses, support more start-ups, and scale up more technologies.

• Develop a sovereign Global Navigation Satellite System as a priority.

• Invest in Earth Observation sovereign capability outside of Copernicus.

• Adapt nuclear energy technologies for use in space.

• Support platform technologies to detect space debris and other objects.

• Start talks with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to launch a CANZUK space programme to complement the Five Eyes alliance.

When John F. Kennedy delivered the Moonshot speech, he was inviting the American people to join a great national endeavour. The New Frontier successfully wove past and future together into a shared story that could inspire all. Kennedy did not appeal to notions of individual autonomy or self-actualisation. Instead, he challenged Americans by saying “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. Progress need not come at the cost of solidarity. If anything, giving people a shared sense of mission is vital to progress. The awe-inspiring wonder of space could be exactly what we need to bring about a new age of British discovery.

This article is a submission to the TxP Progress Prize to identify antidotes to Britain’s malaise by calling for blog responses to the question ‘Britain is stuck. How can we get it moving again?’

David Cowan is co-editor of The Conservative Reader.