The business of space: Lords quiz UK space industry leaders and entrepreneurs
Thursday 20 March
Space business experts and entrepreneurs are to be quizzed by a House of Lords Committee examining the UK’s engagement with space.
On Monday March 24 at 3.35pm, in Committee Room 3 at the Palace of Westminster, Members will hear from:
- Joshua Western, Co-founder & CEO at SpaceForge
- Dr Rory Holmes, UK Managing Director at ClearSpace
- Dr Katie King, CEO at BioOrbit
At 4:35pm, peers will take oral evidence from:
- Scott Hammond, Deputy CEO at SaxaVord Spaceport
- Alan Thompson, Head of Government Affairs at Skyrora
- Dr Adam Baker, Co-Founder of UK Launch Services Ltd
The meeting is open to the public or can be watched live or later here on Parliament TV.
Questions likely to arise are:
- How big are the opportunities in the in-space economy in coming years?
- What barriers to growth are space businesses facing?
- How can the UK government support the growth of the space sector?
- Does the UK need sovereign launch capability?
- What are the current plans for launch from the SaxaVord Spaceport?
The cross-party House of Lords UK Engagement with Space Committee is also inviting individuals and organisations to send written submissions as part of its inquiry and is keen to hear from a diverse range of people.
Chaired by Baroness Ashton, it encourages anyone with knowledge or expertise in the space economy to come forward and share their views, knowing that they are making a valuable contribution to this inquiry.
It is inviting written submissions on a range of issues (there are further details on how to engage on the committee’s website)
The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursday 17 April. You can also follow the committee on X @LordsUKSpaceCom, Bluesky and LinkedIn. Its full membership is here.
The committee has so far taken oral evidence from Professor Brian Cox, the UK Space Agency, Airbus and Thales Alenia Space UK among others. All public meetings can be watched live or later here on Parliament TV.
