§ Mr. Michael Marshall (Arundel)I am grateful for this opportunity to debate the United Kingdom space technology programme. I make that comment in no ordinary sense because the facility provided for an additional Adjournment debate is much appreciated, and I am grateful for the help which I have had from Mr. Speaker's office in making this possible.
I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Information Technology for being in his place. I hope that he, too, will regard this as a useful opportunity to discuss a very important subject which we get all too few opportunities to debate.
I am also conscious that my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Murphy), who referred to the undoubted British success in the Glotto satellite launches, is in his place, as are my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker) and others of my hon. Friends.
I take a slightly old-fashioned view in referring these days to the Supply Estimates. Under our more flexible system, we do not need to justify subject matters in initiating debates in the House. But it is important to hon. Members who may wish to look at these matters in more detail to refer to class IV, vote 6, of the Supply Estimates, which relate to scientific and technological assistance by the Department of Trade and Industry. Those who do so will find the sum of £65 million in the current Supply Estimates as expenditure, for domestic and civil space programmes to the extent of just under £14 million and contributions to the European Space Agency to the extent of £51 million.
It is to the European Space Agency that I want first to address my remarks.
I should declare my interests at the outset. I am the parliamentary adviser to the Space and Communications Division of British Aerospace. But in this context I am also proud to declare my interest as chairman of the all-party Space Committee, and it was in that latter capacity that I returned earlier this month from Kourou in French Guiana after witnessing the successful launch of the British-led Glotto satellite by the European Ariane launcher.
The significance of that experience, was, I believe, twofold. The first is that, with my hon. Friend the Minister of State, officials and representatives from all our European partners, we were privileged to see what an outstandingly successful facility we have in the Ariane space launch facility. We were part of space history and of a genuine success story for European technological collaboration. The delegation from the House, which included the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr. McWilliam) —in this context I regard him as a friend—the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) and my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Batiste), represented the all-party space committee and we witnessed the successful demonstration of that launch capability in a precise time slot.
Had there been any hitch in the launch capability or the delivery of the satellite, we should not have witnessed the arrangements by which that satellite is to explore Halley's comet—named after the second Astronomer Royal, Esmond Halley—and we should not have been able to 1401 see the successful launch of that mission. Indeed, it would be about 76 years before one could hope to see that exercise repeated.
Within Arianespace, as is perhaps well known, there is a majority French stake, but there is also a United Kingdom equity stake. I understand that British Aerospace and other parts of British industry have a current interest in increasing the United Kingdom equity stake. I hope that my hon. Friend may feel able to comment on that point tonight because I believe that we should all welcome that kind of increased participation in an undoubted European success.
The rocket stabiliser and some of the launch equipment comes from this country and therefore we have a direct industrial stake in the Arianespace rocketry.
I also appreciate the fact that the Department of Trade and Industry contributes to the Arianespace technological fund and to the cost of the launch site.
On the evidence of our vist to Kourou, that investment and the financial support for which the Department of Trade and Industry is responsible is well placed. I have already said how the European launch capability has a proven track record. It compares extremely well with the United States shuttle and is acquiring its own consumer preference. Above all, it provides competition for the American space shuttle without which we should have all been captive to that launch facility.
Significantly, in the case of the Giotto satellite, Arianespace did not just put the satellite successfully into orbit in the precise time slot, we also saw the launching of a satellite in which British Aerospace had the opportunity, as the prime contractor, to demonstrate yet again that with communications satellites, remote sensoring and scientific development, the United Kingdom—that is not confined to British Aerospace because Marconi, Ferranti and many other companies are involved — has a major facility and success on its industrial horizon.
The second significant feature of the Kourou experience was not just that we saw a European consortium led by British Aerospace, but I have great pleasure in putting on record the fact—we frequently reflect on the difficulties and problems that surround us—that we had a project on which it was crucial to deliver on time, to specification and price, and that all those points were met. Any slippage or failures, as I said, would have meant nothing less than a three quarters of a century delay before we tried again.
Now we must wait until March 1986 for the future exploration of Halley's comet. The satellite will attempt to take television cameras within 500 km of the comet's nucleus. That is an exciting project and one which has captured the imagination of young people throughout Europe. I welcome the way in which an effort has been made to attract their interest. That is not only important industrially and scientifically but is part of the way in which youthful enthusiasm for these matters can be harnessed to work which is important and which points to growing job opportunities in space technology.
As for the Giotto-Halley's Comet mission, we look forward to a steady stream of technical and scientific data, and a unique study of the comet, that will be directly related and relayed, as is other current work within the European Space Agency — be it on communications satellites, remote sensing satellites or the whole raft of 1402 space technology — to ESA's ground facilities, particularly to the research and technological centre, known as ESTEC, in Holland arid the space operations centre, known as ESOC, in Germany.
The all-party space committee was indebted not only to Arianespace for the Kornou unit but also to ESA, for subsequent visits to the ESTEC and ESOC facilities in Holland and Germany. We could not have been more impressed, not only by the level of expertise and dedication of all who work there on our behalf but also by the genuine European spirit that was evident. There are times when we in the House perhaps feel that the European ideal is weakening and that there are few success stories, but we certainly have one in the European Space Agency.
At the same time, I cannot ignore the fact that wherever we went we met substantial numbers of British scientists and engineers, whose work is highly regarded, they were seen as key personnel and employees within the European Space Agency.
Within the Europan Space Agency and the European launch capability of Arianespace we have as I indicated earlier a real success story. The Minister has played a notable part in the European Space Agency family and at the ministerial meeting in Rome earlier this year, not only by reinforcing and supporting the future of ESA but by committing the United Kingdom to a substantial stake in that work. I hope that he will take this opportunity particularly to reaffirm the Government's commitment to the future of ESA. As I see it, we now have a long-term commitment because of the agreement at the summit on the future of manned space stations and the opportunity for ESA and NASA to work together. That is also true of the whole range of ESA activities that I have tried to outline.
I hope that the Minister will also say something about two major domestic issues. The first is direct broadcasting by satellite. Widespread disappointment has been expressed at the apparent collapse of the so-called "club of 21"—the attempt by the BBC and the independent television companies to decide how to use a British approach through UNISAT, the industrial consortium of British Aerospace, Marconi and British Telecom.
I must report that in talks between the all-party space committee and the European Space Agency, one of the factors that in a sense rubbed in our disappointment was the strong feeling that within Europe there is now a major growth of direct broadcasting by satellite. There is the French-German scheme, and there is now the strong possibility of an Irish-Portuguese DBS system. There is also the Italian DBS provided on the ESA large satellite capability. However, for a variety of reasons, the United Kingdom proposals have run into the sand.
The Government are inclined to say that it is for the television industry and the industrial suppliers to work this through. But given the experience of other European countries, two things must be said. First, within ESA and elsewhere we were told time and again that Europe cries out for the quality of British programming. It would therefore be the ultimate irony if the only English language programming came from the English language service of the French-German satellite or another source that were essentially oriented outside the United Kingdom. I am not simply making a chauvinistic point about the excellence of our programmes. There are also a wide range of industrial implications. By definition, anybody who is involved in direct broadcasting by satellite will be involved in the opportunities for industrial development in 1403 down link equipment, dishes and many other items. I hope, therefore, that my hon. Friend the Minister for Information Technology will be able to say a few words about what the Government can do to facilitate a new initiative on United Kingdom direct broadcasting by satellite. The widespread assumption is that the Home Office will call for new franchises. I appreciate his problem in speaking on behalf of other Departments, but anything that my hon. Friend can say to encourage those who have an interest in these matters will be timely.
Finally, I am anxious that an early announcement should be made about the proposed United Kingdom space centre. I appreciate that many problems have to be overcome. For example, it is important that the right people and the right site should be chosen for the centre. The bringing together of major Departments, notably the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Education and Science and the Ministry of Defence, would be a logical extension of one of the unsung successes of the Government: the creation of interdepartmental liaison.
It should also draw on some of the outstanding work on behalf of British science in centres of excellance such as the Rutherford Appleton laboratory.
The future success of our space policy will very much depend upon whether a space centre can be established. This takes on added significance in terms of the summit commitment to explore the possibility of European-American collaboration on space platforms.
We must also consider whether the United Kingdom can play a role with the United States in the strategic defence initiative. Space is an area of high policy and we must adopt an effective approach. A space centre would be a logical channel for that policy. I am pleased about the Government's commitment in principle and I hope that my hon. Friend will be able to make an announcement before we return from the summer recess. If he can, he will be doing a service not only to the House but to the country.
§ The Minister for Information Technology (Mr. Geoffrey Pattie)The record shows that this Government have provided sustained financial and political support for the development of space technology and the space industry in Britain. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel (Mr. Marshall) for providing me with an opportunity to put some of these facts on the record. I am also grateful for the sustained and well-informed interest that, as chairman of the all-party committee on space, he takes in the subject. In the past five years my Department has invested nearly £300 million in space technology, and the annual expenditure has increased by some 45 per cent. Civil space expenditure across the whole of Government has risen broadly in line with this. Over the same period, the performance of the British space industry has out-paced this growth. From a turnover of less than £100 million in 1979, the industry's turnover is estimated in the current year at £250 million. This year, British companies led the two competing consortia to fill a contract for$150 million to provide maritime communications satellites to INMARSAT. British Aerospace led the successful bid and the way in which the major American space companies were prepared to take a back-seat shows the high standing which the British industry enjoys throughout the world. United Kingdom industry has also 1404 secured the largest non-United States share of the most recent procurement by the international telecommunications satellite organisation INTELSAT.
In the defence market, an all-British consortium of British Aerospace and GEC-Marconi followed up its contract for two SKYNET IV satellites by winning a further order this year for a third satellite. The latest contract will be worth some £40 to £50 million. The companies are pursuing international markets in this sector with full Government support and encouragement.
My Department's primary objective in supporting civil space research and development has been to promote the development of profitable industrial and commercial organisations capable of producing and exploiting space hardware, software and services — particularly in communications. Employment in the industry is growing at more than 10 per cent. a year and the current order book is twice the size of annual turnover. Space is a success story, and we are undoubtedly achieving our objective. The continuity of the Government's policy has been an important factor in providing a stable climate for growth, but the responsibility, and congratulations for that growth lie, quite rightly, with the industry itself.
The space business is a risky business and, just as it has been impossible for the space industry to bear the burden of investment by itself, so it has been important for the United Kingdom to co-operate with the Governments and industries of other countries in major development projects. The United States and the Soviet Union have had the economic strength, political will and defence requirement to develop a fully comprehensive space capability. There is now a recognised third force in space—Europe. By collaborating through the European Space Agency, the 11 member states and three associates have between them also developed a comprehensive capability.
Britain was a prime mover in establishing the agency in the early 1970s, and we continue to devote some three-quarters of our space technology expenditure directly to the programmes of the agency. We have in particular concentrated our efforts on the communications satellite programmes and enabled British industry to achieve prime contractorship on every major programme in this sector. This has paved the way for the commercial successes of which I spoke earlier. Our participation in other projects has been necessarily more modest but no less impressive. The guidance system on the European rocket Ariane is supplied by Ferranti and the launcher has delivered its payloads into orbit with such accuracy that the life of the satellites has been extended by up to two years.
The United Kingdom has also an internationally renowned space science community. In the ESA's mandatory science programme, British scientists have been extremely successful in their proposals for flying instruments on European satellites, and in obtaining observation time in competition with proposals from scientists in other member states. The same is true of their co-operation with the United States. The Spacelab 2 shuttle flight, which is due to be launched next week, will carry two United Kingdom scientific experiments—the only non-American experiments selected by NASA for this United States scientific mission. Incidentally, the pallets on which the experiments will be flown were manufactured by British Aerospace.
The Government will continue to support the development of space technology by sponsoring projects 1405 which break new technological ground but also promise long-term commercial potential. I therefore gave full support for the new 10-year long-term plan of the European Space Agency which was discussed at the Ministerial Council in Rome at the end of January.
§ Mr. Christopher Murphy (Welwyn Hatfield)My hon. Friend is making a generous tribute to British Aerospace, and that means many of my constituents both in the management and work force who contribute towards the wonderful work in the space programme. The work force and management at British Aerospace equally appreciate the dedication and interest that my hon. Friend and his colleagues in the Government have shown in paving the way towards making sure that the United Kingdom is a major force in the space business.
§ Mr. PattieI am grateful to my hon. Friend for those kind remarks. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel has already mentioned that he and I were present in French Guiana when the Giotto satellite was launched. We were not only very impressed by the work carried out by the British Aerospace team, but when I met the people concerned I was impressed by their sheer professionalism and dedication. Within the overall plan, I expect the British contribution to provide continued support in communications in the ESA programme, with the development of payloads and on-board switching techniques for the markets of the mid to late 1990s and in existing and new satellite remote sensing programmes.
§ It being Ten O'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn. —[Mr. Lang.]
§ Mr. PattieThe latter will include not only the development of conventional satellites but their successors, the refuellable, maintainable space platforms which will form part of the international space station capability.
Following the agreement in Rome, work has now begun on the preparatory phase of the European space station-related progamme Columbus. Originally a proposal by Germany and Italy for a pressurised laboratory module and astronaut-tended co-orbiting platforms, the programme has been expanded to take account of British proposals which include platforms operating in the polar orbits, particularly suitable for remote sensing. British Aerospace has now won the ESA contract to lead on the development of all the platform elements in the Columbus programme and its proposals have attracted great interest in the United States from both the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The space station project will entail major advances in technology and in the way in which we operate in space. The presence of the space station will eventually impact on the design of all spacecraft, and the Government believe that it is essential to assess the costs and benefits of the programme from the close involvement which we gain as a full participant in the project definition phase.
We shall also be looking to substantiate the prospects which are foreseen in the programme for major advances in technologies with clearly identifiable terrestrial application, such as robotics, data management and communications. British companies are involved in all these areas and it is important for us to take advantage of 1406 the opportunities to build up our technology in them. We also need to gain access to the various parts of the space station for our user community. However, we were keen to obtain leadership on the platform elements because we believe that, particularly in its polar-orbiting form, the platform best meets the needs of those users we have already identified; that it would be attractive to the United States as part of their own capability; that it is well suited to the skills which our industry can offer; and, most importantly, that it looks the most commercially promising part of the programme.
If I have emphasised the more commercial programmes of the ESA, it is because my Department is responsible for the Government's contribution to these. But it would be wrong to discuss space technology without returning to our scientific successes which I touched on earlier and in particular to congratulate the European scientists and engineers involved in the Giotto programme to intercept Halley's comet. I was privileged to be in French Guiana on 2 July when Giotto was launched, as were my hon. Friend who initiated the debate and some of the members of the All-Party Space Committee.
The choice of mission shows great imagination by the European science community. This spacecraft will provide information about comets that is expected to provide clues to the origins of the universe. At the same time it will attract great public attention and generate interest in the achievements of both the United Kingdom and the European space programmes. Great ingenuity has been shown in squeezing as many as 10 experiments on the spacecraft, and one of the British experiments, the dust impaction detector, even makes use of the shield designed to protect the spacecraft during the early stages of the encounter. The spacecraft was primed by British Aerospace leading a European consortium. It is a remarkable compliment to industry's ability to work to severe time pressures that the development has taken less than four years. As my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel said, when the target does not reappear for 76 years, industry could not afford to miss the very narrow launch window which was available. Other areas of British industry could usefully study the techniques practised by our leading space companies to learn ways of increasing quality and reliability.
While our contributions to the programmes of the ESA have grown, we have also seen an increase in the complementary national programme of space technology which my Department supports. Much of this is managed by staff at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, including the National Remote Sensing Centre which is housed at the establishment. The programme involves the development of space technologies which will be relevant to future satellite programmes. It also includes the study and definition phases for some bilateral projects, such as the RADARSAT remote sensing programme which is being jointly studied with the Canadians.
As my hon. Friend is well aware, the Government's space activities involve several Departments and public bodies. I continue to chair the two committees which he established and which co-ordinate policy within Government and discuss policy issues with the space industry and user organisations. However, the Government took the decision earlier this year that there was a need to build on those co-ordinating arrangements, 1407 and establish a British National Space Centre to improve the development of space technology in the United Kingdom and to co-ordinate policy more effectively.
A growing range of users of space services is spread across Government, academic institutions and all types of industry. As they have become more aware of the benefits offered to them by space, it has become more important to establish a single focus to which they can turn for advice and technical support. We hope that they will seek to influence the programmes of the centre by making their own financial contributions. Our aim is to improve the use of public resources, and I believe that one of the most effective ways in which we can be sure of achieving this aim is to invite industry to play a major role within the centre. Detailed discussions are taking place, and I hope to be ready to make an announcement in September.
The establishment of a National Space Centre does not signal a new direction in space policy. Rather, it emphasises the Government's commitment to the development of space technology for industrial, scientific and defence purposes. ESA will remain the cornerstone of our civil space activities and I left my colleagues at the Rome Council in no doubt about Britain's continuing role in Europe and our determination to play a major role in space activities.
My hon. Friend referred to direct broadcasting by satellite. Having supported the development of the necessary technology, the Government's view remains that the introduction of an operational direct satellite broadcasting system in the United Kingdom should be carried out as a purely commercial venture. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department has received a representation from the shadow Broadcasting Board on the various feasibility studies that have been undertaken, and I expect his response to be announced soon. In view of that, my hon. Friend would not expect or wish me to go further now.
Even at this relatively late hour, I would like to congratulate my hon. Friend on the timely way in which he has brought this subject to the attention of the House. Britain's involvement in space is a success. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Murphy) for his support. This debate has allowed us to give the industry the public recognition which it richly deserves.