§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the public expenditure in support of the space industry in each of the previous 10 years; and what was its purpose.
§ Mr. ButcherMy Department aims to assist the development and maintenance of competitive industrial and commercial organisations able to exploit hardware, software and service opportunities in satellite communications, broadcasting and remote sensing and in the associated ground segment markets. Expenditure in each of the last ten years in support of this objective has been:
Year Total £ million 1974–75 17.7 1975–76 25.4 1976–77 34.4 1977–78 34.4 1978–79 34.0 1979–80 37.0 1980–81 44.1 1981–82 58.7 1982–83 61.6 1983–84 *60.0 * Provisional.