HL Deb 27 January 1986 vol 470 c533WA
Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the spin-off effects for civilian use in the United Kingdom which will be derived from the research into systems in space referred to by the Secretary of State for Defence (Official Report, Commons, 14th January 1986; cols. 909 and 912) even if the research is not capable of achieving its main military objective.

Lord Trefgarne

At this stage of British participation in the SDI research programme I am afraid that it is too early to give any specific examples of civil spin-off which may arise from research work undertaken. However, I would like to assure the noble Lord that the Government attach importance to exploiting potential civil spin-off from any defence research work carried out in the United Kingdom including work undertaken in the SDI research programme.