To keep up with other spacefaring nations, the United Kingdom needs its own space agency, the Royal Society said this week in a submission to a government consultation aiming to draw up a space strategy for the years 2007-10. With government spending spread across nine departments and funding agencies, Britain's space effort lacks focus, the society says, making it particularly hard for the U.K. to speak with one voice when negotiating bilateral projects apart from the multinational programs of the European Space Agency.
A new national agency would replace the British National Space Centre, which now plays a coordinating role but has a staff of just 45 and no budget of its own. The U.K. spent just over $400 million on space research and missions in the 2005-06 fiscal year and provides only 7% of the budget of the European Space Agency; France and Germany give 25% and 20%, respectively. "It can be difficult at times to get agreements for international missions," says space scientist Andrew Coates of University College London. "A more effective voice would be extremely welcome." But it's not all about perception. "We should be fighting for more money for space," Coates says. "Our ambitions go far beyond what we can currently do."
