My Lords, I welcome the appearance on the Order Paper of these SIs as yet another clear signal that the Government are serious in their intent that Britain should be a leading player in the space sector, an ambition that I support. I do so
with an important caveat: I question whether the SI procedure is fit for purpose in handling parliamentary oversight of this kind of legislation.
In a billet-doux the Minister sent to Members of the Committee a few days ago, she told us that she had mastered a 100-page brief in preparation for today’s session. We have before us four pieces of secondary legislation, which, with the Explanatory Memoranda, run to more than 200 pages. This debate is scheduled for one hour, and our interventions are limited to seven minutes. I will put a question that is above the pay grades of all of us here: is there not a case for legislation of this complexity to be handled by a Standing Committee of both Houses, which would be able to give full and informed consideration to the important issues before us today?
Space is indeed a new frontier and, as such, we will need to address a number of audiences and a number of concerns simultaneously if we are to go forward with confidence. That being so, is it realistic that this launch programme will be a reality by the Government’s target date of 2022—next year—which the Minister repeated again today? The amount of logistics, manpower and know-how required to launch a rocket simply does not happen overnight. There are still half a dozen spaceports under consideration. When will the first of these be operational?
The answer to that is contained in a positive Rubik’s cube of decision-making contained in these SIs, but it is all summed up in one word: “confidence”. We have to give the general public confidence that this space adventure is safe, both physically and environmentally. I remember the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, reminding us in an earlier debate that rockets are “controlled explosions”. The public will need to be confident that the CAA has the new expertise and the extra resources to carry out the oversight required to ensure that these operations are safe.
We have already seen how HS2 attracts opposition on environmental grounds. I recently saw a TV programme reporting from the highlands of Scotland, expressing concerns about how spaceport development would impact on areas of unique habitat and outstanding natural beauty. By their very nature, the spaceports are likely to be in such locations. It must be said, though, that in the locations already announced, other voices are arguing that the space industry offers the best prospect of attracting high-quality investment and jobs to those areas.
The Minister mentioned another part of the Rubik’s cube, which is sustaining investor confidence. I listened with care to what she had to say about insurance and liability for the investors and companies involved. Before the debate, I asked one such company about this and was told that it had put forward specific ideas to the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform, calling for amendments to the Space Industry Act 2018 to give it the assurances it is looking for. In the meantime, if changes to Section 36 of the Act are not possible in the short term, guidance should make it clear that all granted licences will provide for a cap on liability. As I said, I will study carefully what the Minister said and see what the sector’s reaction will be as to whether the reassurances she has given are sufficient for it to attract the very large investment it will need.
Safety, security, environment and insurance are all live issues as we move forward. I understand that New Zealand, another island nation at a similar latitude away from the equator as ourselves, is already operational, with a small satellite capability in partnership with an American company, Rocket Lab. Have we had any exchanges with New Zealand about its experience of regulating in this area?
New technology is reducing the cost of access to space and demand is growing. This offers a huge opportunity to the UK as we already have a thriving space sector. I hope that we can look again at how we keep this fast-moving situation under proper parliamentary scrutiny. I look forward to us taking forward a project that will bring with it a wide range of benefits in related services and sustain our position as a leading space nation in the world.
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