PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Space Technology: Coronavirus (27 April 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help the UK space industry use its skills to support the UK response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Asked by:
Sir John Hayes (Conservative)

The UK Space Agency, working with NHS England and the European Space Agency, has made £2.6 million available through a new, fast, contracting process enabling robust scrutiny, but swift development for ‘close to market’ ideas to manage pandemics.

The UK Space Agency feeds information and data about the current state of the space sector into the wider Cabinet Office contingency planning strategy. In order to facilitate this, the UK Space Agency distributes regular surveys to space operators to understand their resilience.

The UK Space Agency is also working with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to accelerate drone applications within healthcare to support logistics, such as the safe delivery of personal protective equipment and test samples between sites.

Answered by:
Amanda Solloway (Conservative)
5 May 2020