Ian Pearson - 3rd Appleton Conference

From what I have been told, the Appleton Space Conference is fast becoming something of an institution, so I am delighted to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts today on the role and importance of space.

I trust you have had a productive day and personally I am very keen to hear Will Whitehorn's lecture.

I also want to pay tribute to the sterling work done by the Parliamentary Space Committee over many years in raising understanding in Parliament and beyond of the opportunities that space provides.

No doubt one of my predecessors, Ian Taylor, illuminated your day and I am sorry I was not able to hear him.

I would like to begin by talking about the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Because we believe as a Government that Britain can only succeed in a rapidly changing world if we develop the skills of our people to the fullest possible extent, we carry out world class research and scholarship, and apply both knowledge and skills to create an innovative and competitive economy. The DIUS mission is to work with our partners to achieve and meet these challenges.

DIUS was created to give skills, along with colleges, universities, science and innovation, a new and direct voice in Government for the first time. That's a clearer voice in Cabinet for all those committed to improving the skills of their workforce. And I think a huge opportunity to help transform the lives of millions of people in the UK, to boost the bottom line of thousands of businesses and regenerate hundreds of communities across the UK through lifelong learning.

I have been the Minister responsible for Space for nearly six months now. And I can say without wanting to flatter this audience that it is one of my most exciting and promising areas of work. I have been very impressed by the sheer variety of activities and depth of talent that has been demonstrated to me.

In that short time, I have had the opportunity to meet many representatives of the industry, visited the excellent outreach resource, the National Space Centre, and seen something of the range of our involvement in global activities.

Since I arrived:

• we have launched the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation;
• the UK has taken over the chair of the International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters';
• and the UK has become a member of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group - perhaps the most important element for many in the audience today.

I have had a most encouraging meeting with the Director General of ESA; and next week I will be meeting the Administrator of NASA.

And of course we all celebrated the pioneering work of Jodrell Bank at the 50th anniversary of space exploration. And I was delighted to be at Jodrell Bank and it was a privilege to meet Sir Bernard Lovell.

On the policy side we have also been moving forward in the past few months. We are close to concluding the UK space strategy which will set out our aims for the next few years.

And the final details of the financial settlement for space in the Comprehensive Spending Review are being worked out.

I have also asked David Williams, the Director General of BNSC, to give me clear advice on where the UK stands in respect of returning to manned space. This is not an easy issue - it is expensive and the option of doing more robotic work has to be considered as part of the equation. But personally I believe it is only a matter of time before human exploration happens. The only question is how long. It's not a question of if.

And we have published the Government's response to the thoughtful report of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. That committee recognised the importance of space to the UK's economy and more broadly. This will certainly be reflected in our new national space strategy.

Officials are already working towards the European Space Agency's Ministerial Council next year. This will begin to implement the new European Space Policy endorsed in May this year.

We will have next year the UK's biggest ever space event, the International Astronautical Congress, which will take place in Glasgow, next October. So as Space Minister it will be an even busier time in 2008.

I talked earlier a little about the role and aims of DIUS. I want to say that I am delighted that this Department takes the lead role in space. It is the right place for it. In DIUS we are committed to world-leading science, innovation and skills. Space along with other key high technology sectors are key to our agenda.

• Accelerating the commercial exploitation of creativity and knowledge, through innovation and research, is a major driver for space.
• Space is a high technology employment area that demands scientists and engineers with the right skills and qualifications.
• And space that contributes not only through pursuing world-class excellence in research and knowledge, is a great way of encouraging young people into science and promoting the benefits of science in society.

Maintaining and developing the UK strengths in space is good for our science base, it's good for business and it's good for the economy.

The Government's role is to foster prosperity by enabling activities to take place, and by spreading the message to those who might benefit from using space and its applications. Government, as you know, supports research, knowledge transfer and the de-risking of key technologies; it facilitates a beneficial business environment; and acts as an early adopter for potential satellite based services and applications. It's not just about money, but money clearly matters.

Government, through DIUS, also provides a national direction or strategy for UK space activities. We do many things well in the UK, but government, like business, is about making choices. Our past space choices are well known, and we will always want to work to our strengths, but we shouldn't ignore the need for new initiatives which will take place in the future.

The new UK space strategy will be a strategy for the UK. As I hope you know, BNSC has consulted widely with industry, academia and the public, and the aim is for a final release early next year. David Williams will have talked to you about this, but I want to say something about the emerging proposals and why we have reached them.

Space contributes around £7 billion a year to the UK economy, and the strategy is to increase the UK share of this fast growing international sector. The Government and I are determined that the UK remains at the forefront of the evolving space scene.

Britain's position in the world will be influenced by our success in bringing space innovation to the market. In developing tomorrow's economy, a major target for the strategy will be the high value added services and export opportunities that are increasingly being enabled by the next generation satellite communications, broadcast and navigation networks.

We are more than ever dependent on the global reach, resilience and efficiency of satellite networks. With a global market in space systems and satellite-enabled application services expected to increase from around $115 billion today to something like $1 trillion by 2020 this is an area we simply must be in, and provision has been made for participation in the future ESA ARTES research programme and the new Integrated Applications Programme.

Underpinning this, as I think most people recognise, is a need for a national coordinated space technology programme. This would undertake studies to reduce technical risk, prepare for new application areas, be involved in technical knowledge transfer and enable us to increase our outreach activities. This needs to be a true partnership effort and embrace the relevant ESA technology programmes. Final funding in this area is still being determined and part of the ambition is to attract inward investment into Harwell to build up a true centre of expertise.

In delivery we are committed to continuing to using the European fora - the European Space Agency, EUMETSAT and the EU - as well as developing productive bilateral relationships and multilateral partnerships with other space-faring nations.

When you look at it, completely new opportunities are emerging. Private human space flight and tourism is one of them, and we will hear shortly more about that in more detail. There are opportunities that the UK should grasp and we need to understand the fundamental importance of space to our economy, and as government we have an important role in the regulatory area.

And we shouldn't forget the importance of maintaining and upgrading our capability in areas where we already do well. We will continue to lead international efforts to tackle climate change.

Developing space systems will give us the science and technology to keep centre stage in this field and I plan for this to happen through strong participation in the GMES programme and the ESA Earth observation envelope programmes.

This also applies in the area of planetary science and astronomy, where we will remain a full partner in the ESA Space Science programme.

There is no doubt that the public's imagination is captured by the idea of an international research laboratory on the Moon and captured by the idea of missions to Mars. The UK will play its part in these programmes - the real issue is what part? Robotics, yes. Man still has a question mark. But we are committed to the Aurora robotic programme of ESA, and are considering a bi-lateral lunar programme with NASA. This is consistent with playing a leading role in space exploration through the Global Exploration Strategy.

Clearly we cannot achieve this strategy without the appropriate resources. And in a partnership such as the BNSC financial issues can get quite complex, and although I can't quote the figures today, overall I expect space will have a better than average settlement compared with government as a whole when the figures are finalised, which will be shortly.

In concluding my vision for UK space which I expect to be in the strategy. I want us:

• to win an increasing share of the global market in space systems, services and applications in the race to develop tomorrow's economy ;
• to be a world Leader in the exploitation of space systems in managing our changing planet;
• to be a partner of choice in global space science and in exploring the universe;
• to benefit our Society by strengthening innovation from space; and
• to see space as a major channel for skills development and outreach, and I want us to improve public recognition of the value of space systems as part of our critical national infrastructure.

Finally, I recognise of course that space is not just about Government. When you think about it, it is not even mainly about Government. It is about what UK scientists, engineers, industrialists and financiers are doing. It is about space as an integral part of the way we lead our lives in this country and the way forward for humankind.

At the end of 2007, a year of commemoration for mankind in space, we have a lot to celebrate in this country, and this conference is a fine occasion to do so.

But just to end by explaining that space matters to this Government, and to the UK. We are a centre of excellence. All of us here in this room today know this. As I said at the start of my talk, I want to continue to work with you to bring this message to a wider audience, and I look with great excitement to 2008 and the challenges ahead.