Memorandum 106
Supplementary evidence from the British
National Space Centre (BNSC) following the evidence session on
18 April 2007
BNSC
(a) How many staff work at BNSC headquarters?
How many staff at BNSC headquarters are on secondment and where
are they seconded from?
Forty three staff work in BNSC headquarters
on a full or part-time basis. Of these, 30 are DTI employees;
four are from STFC; three from NERC; two are from MoD; one is
from DEFRA; and one is seconded from DfT, whilst two are seconded
from industry.
(b) What are the annual overheads of BNSC
headquarters and how is this split between the partners?
DTI "hosts" the BNSC headquarters
and provides the "running costs" covering DTI staff
and travel costs (and the costs of a DfT secondee), together with
headquarters' General Administrative Expenditure. The DTI allocation
was £1.6 million in 2006-07. NERC, STFC and MoD cover the
salary and travel costs of their staff working in BNSC.
(c) Why does BNSC headquarters not have its
own budget?
As stated above, BNSC HQ has a budget allocated
to it via the DTI. These costs are associated with the cost of
"hosting" BNSC (above) and covers admin expenditure
as well as communications and outreach activities.
It is in the nature of the partnership that
each partner brings relevant resources as appropriate for programme
activities. BNSC provides the framework and overall strategy for
these programmes. DTI acts as the "host" department
for BNSC in terms of Ministerial interaction. BNSC also acts as
the external policy interface for space.
The NAO Report (para 1.1) stated that "The
partnership approach is appropriate given the United Kingdom's
policy emphasis on the uses and users of space."
(d) What action has been taken by the BNSC
in response to the recommendation by the National Audit Office
in its report, The United Kingdom's Civil Space Activities (March
2004) that "The Headquarters would benefit, however, from
having more staff skilled in strategic planning, commercial activities
and marketing"? (p 3)
Since the publication of the NAO Report, a number
of new staff have joined BNSC and these appointments have addressed
the skills issue. Specific examples are:
— Director General (Dr David Williams):
considerable experience of the global space sector and through
his previous role in EUMETSAT, experience in strategy.
— Director UK Space Policy and European
Relations: Experience in public and private sectors: private sector
experience includes working in SME, technology and programme management.
— Director for Space Science: seconded
from STFC and through his previous employment in space industry
has wide ranging marketing and commercial as well as in depth
technological experience.
— Director for Industrial Policy: seconded
from MOD and has wide ranging operational and agency management.
— Director for Earth Observation: seconded
to NERC from DEFRA and has extensive experience of Earth Observation
applications and the EU environment.
— Three senior staff: two of whom are
secondees from UK space industry; the other is a secondee from
DEFRA with valuable experience of DEFRA's perspectives.
EXPENDITURE BY
STFC (PPARC & CCLRC)
What has been the annual expenditure by PPARC
and CCLRC on the following areas over the last 10 years?
Please note that CCLRC received funding from
PPARC. The figures for CCLRC have not been adjusted to remove
this duplication in terms of the overall funding available. In
general about 40% of the CCLRC funding quoted in the tables below
was received from PPARC.
(a) Space instrumentation for projects in
ESA, NASA or other bilateral missions
PPARC FUNDING: INSTRUMENTATION—CURRENT
PROGRAMME £ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 | 2007-08
|
|
| Total | n/a |
n/a | 6.6
| 5.9 | 7.4
| 8.1 | 7.1
| 6.5 | 8.7
| 6.8 | 6.2
|
|
Cash basis—not adjusted for inflation
ESTIMATE OF CCLRC FUNDING—£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 |
|
| Total | 7 |
8 | 8
| 9 | 9
| 10 | 10
| 12 | 11
| 10 |
|
(b) Funding for the development of new instruments or technology
for missions not yet approved
PPARC/STFC FUNDING: NON APPROVED PROGRAMME—INSTRUMENTATION
£ MILLION
|
| 2006-07
| 2007-08 | 2008-09
| 2009-10 | 2010-11
|
|
| Total | 0.3 |
0.4 | 0.2
| 2.0 | 4.0
|
|
Cash basis—not adjusted for inflation; future funding
subject to CSR outcome; envisaged funding for instruments on the
Aurora Exomars Programme is not included in the table as the final
payload complement has not been approved at the relevant ESA Programme
Board.
ESTIMATE OF CCLRC FUNDING—£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 |
|
| Total | 0.7 |
0.7 | 0.55
| 0.55 | 0.25
| 0.25 | 0.2
| 0.2 | 0.15
| 0.15 |
|
(c) Funding for operating space instruments and processing
data
PPARC FUNDING: OPERATIONS AND DATA PROCESSING £ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 | 2007-08
|
|
| Total | n/a |
n/a | 2.5
| 2.6 | 4.0
| 4.6 | 4.7
| 5.0 | 4.8
| 5.0 | 4.8
|
|
Cash basis—not adjusted for inflation
ESTIMATE OF CCLRC FUNDING—£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 |
|
| Total | 0.1 |
0.15 | 0.15
| 0.15 | 0.75
| 0.85 | 0.9
| 1.0 | 1.2
| 1.2 |
|
(d) Funding for analysis and interpretation of space data
PPARC FUNDING: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION £ MILLION
|
| 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 | 2007-08
|
|
| Total | 9.6 |
9.0 | 9.8
| 11.2 | 11.4
| 12.7 | 12.3
| 14.5 | 14.2
|
|
Cash basis—not adjusted for inflation; includes generic
technical development
CCLRC
Approximately £3 million per year average over last
10 years; data not available by year.
SPACE SCIENCE
Mr Newmark asked about the number of students studying space
science (Q701). Has the number of students studying space science
declined, increased or remained stable over the past five years?
BNSC only has the statistics available from students funded
by STFC. Students may also be funded via other Councils, universities
and private funds, and there is no central collation. The following
data represents numbers of PPARC/STFC postgraduate studentships
in astronomy.
Table 3.1
POSTGRAD STUDENTSHIPS IN ASTRONOMY SUPPORTED BY PPARC/STFC
|
| 2000
| 2001 | 2002
| 2003 | 2004
| 2005 | 2006
|
|
| In year allocation of new Astronomy Quota Students
| 107 | 102
| 102 | 107
| 103 | 108
| 108 |
| Existing total current Astronomy Students |
322 | 321
| 335 | 329
| 346 | 347
| 350 |
|
EXPENDITURE BY
NERC
What has been the annual expenditure by NERC on the following
areas over the last 10 years?
(a) Space instrumentation for projects in ESA, NASA or
other bilateral missions
(b) Funding for the development of new instruments or technology
for missions not yet approved
(c) Funding for operating space instruments and processing
data
(d) Funding for analysis and interpretation of space data
1. Table 3.2 provides information on NERC's investments
in Earth Observation against the categories stated above. Since
April 2003 NERC has been responsible for the UK's subscription
to a number of European Space Agency programmes.
TABLE 3.2
EXPENDITURE BY NERC
|
| £m | 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
| 2006-07 |
|
| a) Space instrumentation for projects in ESA, NASA or other bilateral missions
| 5.298 | 1.600
| 1.600 | 1.700
| 0.900 | 0.965
| 26.025 | 23.736
| 24.605 | 22.030
|
| b) Funding for the development of new instruments or technology for missions not yet approved
| - | -
| - | 0.300
| 0.100 | 0.648
| 4.243 | 4.599
| 4.853 | 5.150
|
| c) Funding for operating space instruments and processing data
| 1.128 | 0.800
| 0.800 | 1.300
| 0.600 | 0.356
| 14.822 | 15.690
| 15.939 | 7.373
|
| d) Funding for analysis and interpretation of space data
| 2.811 | 2.300
| 1.900 | 2.400
| 2.400 | 3.198
| 6.557 | 7.678
| 8.364 | 8.044
|
GRAND TOTAL (note 1) | 9.237
| 4.700 | 4.300
| 5.400 | 3.900
| 4.519 | 51.647
| 51.703 | 53.761
| 42.597 (note 2) |
|
1. The above table represents expenditure by NERC through
its dedicated Earth Observation Programme. In addition, NERC funds
space activities as part of responsive mode grants, Services &
Facilities, Research Centre programmes and other funding schemes.
A recent analysis showed that NERC spent approximately £10
million per annum over the last five years on such projects or
programmes. As only a small percentage of this expenditure relates
to space activities within these projects or programmes, they
have not been included in above table. The activities fall mainly
in category d) and some in category b) and c).
2. ESA call up varies annually and is agreed with NERC
within the framework of an overall long-term commitment. The drop
in 2006-07 reflects the call-up profile rather than any programme
reduction.
EXPENDITURE BY
DTI
(i) What has been the annual expenditure by DTI on the
following areas over the last 10 years?
(a) Direct hardware provision for space missions
£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
|
|
| Total | 82.81
| 75.72 | 67.67
| 64.42 | 59.69
| 58.70 | 28.95
| 34.63 | 36.20
|
|
(b) Central UK subscriptions to ESA programmes of technology
development
£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
|
|
| Total | 18.72
| 9.66 | 15.56
| 20.47 | 20.81
| 14.32 | 4.15
| 4.07 | 6.25
|
|
(c) UK generic technology development programmes
£ MILLION
|
| 1997-98
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000
| 2000-01 | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
|
|
| Total | 1.15
| 2.38 | 4.50
| 6.00 | 7.00
| 12.04 | 1.00
| 0 | 0
|
|
(d) Activities supporting industrial bids for space project
contracts
The main purpose of the ATS (Applications Technology Support)
programme under 4(c) above was to provide support for industrial
bids principally to ESA.
(ii) We are grateful for the information that you have
previously sent regarding the DTI national expenditure on space.
We have some further questions regarding these figures:
(a) What activities did the DTI national programme support
in 2001-02 and at what level?
The national expenditure in 2001-02 amounted to nearly £20
million. This principally provided support in the following areas:
— Applications Technology Support (ATS)—National
Technology Support Programme £7.0 million.
— Microsatellite Applications in Collaboration—the
MOSAIC Small Satellite Programme which supported three small satellite
projects (TOPSAT, GEMINI and DMC) £7.6 million.
— A National Satellite Communications Programme
£3.0 million.
— A National Earth Observation Programme, including
international collaboration £2.2 million.
(b) What activities is the DTI national programme currently
supporting and at what level?
In 2006-07 the DTI National Programme amounted to £3.1
million. This was principally directed towards the provision of
technical support and advice to BNSC on a range of issues covering
UK civil space interests where capability was not available in-house.
(c) Why did investment in the DTI national programme reduce
from £20.2 million in 2001-02 to £6.6 million in 2004-05?
This reduction was principally due to the DTI Review of Business
Support Schemes which concluded that support by DTI to individual
sectors should in future be channelled into the Technology Strategy
budget.
(d) Dr Williams told us that "The DTI used to have
the money that was in NERC and some of the money in what is now
STFC. When that split was made some of the money went out and
there has been a reduction" (Q 681). How much was this reduction?
This change occurred from 2003-04 onwards. See chart below.
|
| 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 | 2005-06
|
|
| DTI | 87.50 |
85.06 | 34.10
| 38.70 | 42.45
|
| PPARC | 42.50
| 48.96 | 73.86
| 66.20 | 76.36
|
| Met. Office | 23.27
| 13.89 | 22.39
| 31.84 | 30.00
|
| NERC | 10.50
| 9.99 | 51.00
| 52.20 | 53.80
|
| MOD | 5.00 |
2.30 | 2.30
| 2.00 | 2.00
|
| DfT | 0.41 |
0.00 | 0.00
| 7.00 | 3.00
|
| DEFRA | 0.00
| 0.00 | 0.00
| 0.00 | 0.00
|
| Total | 169.18
| 160.20 | 183.65
| 197.94 | 207.61
|
|
(iii) Why is there an apparent inconsistency between the
figures supplied to the Committee stating that the UK spent 30.54
million Euros in 2006 on subscriptions to ARTES and the figures
quoted in a December 2005 BNSC press release that announced that
the subscription level would be 22.7 million Euros?
At the 2005 ESA Ministerial Council in Berlin the UK subscribed
22.7 million Euros of new money to ESA's ARTES programme. This
is then spent against an annual programme over a period of time.
The 30.54 million Euros ARTES expenditure in 2006 represents the
annual spend of all existing subscriptions to ARTES in the financial
year 2006.
NATIONAL SPACE
TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME
(a) Why was it necessary to develop the NSTP? What have
been the key events in its development?
The NSTP is intended to ensure that UK is able to identify
and develop a coherent cross partner plan for the essential underpinning
technological capabilities that are needed for international space
programmes and markets, especially ESA. The BNSC believe that
the current activities are both too dispersed and that the overall
annual funding level is insufficient. The programme is a BNSC
HQ initiative and the programme proposal has evolved through a
series of BNSC papers discussed by the BNSC Space Technology Advisory
Board, the Space Advisory Council and the UK Space Board over
the 12 months up to March 2007. The proposal was also discussed
and approved by the CCLRC Council as it forms part of the CCLRC's
CSR submission which is now with STFC.
(b) When will the budget for the NSTP be settled?
The budget will be settled as part of the CSR settlement
for STFC which is currently expected to be in the period up to
October 2007.
(c) Dr Williams told us that he is trying to "establish
a single programme of activity in terms of content and direction
and then find each of the partners who can contribute to it to
fund part of it". Where will the money for the NSTP come
from? Which BNSC partners will contribute to it in future?
The anticipation is that the core new funding will come from
the STFC (previously CCLRC) CSR bid. The aim will then be to align
existing national programmes of each partner to ensure a coherent
overall programme. Thus funds from existing BNSC partners will
be embraced. In the longer term other funding sources will be
addressed including ESA, EC, over Research Councils and industry.
(d) Will there be any overlap of activities funded by the
DTI National Programme and those funded by the NSTP? Will the
DTI National Programme continue to run alongside the NSTP or will
it be subsumed into the NSTP?
There will by design be no overlap in the first instance.
Looking forward, one model is to have a separate legal funding
line for each partner/funding source and a coherent set of activities,
whilst another is for a single legal funding line with contributions
from each partner and other sources. In the first instance it
will be the former.
(e) What will be the relationship between the NSTP and
the Technology Strategy Board?
The new Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is in the process
of being set up, and there is at present no formal plan setting
out the ongoing relationship, including whether the TSB should
be responsible for funding aspects of space activity. Discussions
are ongoing on how the relationship may develop, but a close working
relationship is envisaged.
(f) How will responsibility for the NSTP be split between
the STFC and the BNSC?
The UK Space Board has agreed that the programme will be
led by BNSC. The CEO of STFC is formally the Accounting Officer,
and will delegate full responsibility to DG BNSC. BNSC will establish
an advisory structure to define the areas of technology to be
addressed. The operational aspects (eg contracts awards, bills,
IPR managements) will be undertaken using STFC business processes.
(g) Which Departments/Research Councils are represented
on the programme management team?
There is currently an interim surrogate Programme Management
Team comprising experts from BNSC, STFC, DSTL, NPL and Cranfield
University.
ALPHASAT
Dr David Williams told us that "we recently agreed, through
the Minister and through the DTI, to find money for a programme,
Alphasat in ESA, which is a telecoms programme aimed at the commercial
market" (Q 685). We would be grateful to know the following:
(a) What are the benefits of the Alphasat programme?
The Alphasat programme is designed to develop through ESA
the next generation of telecommunication satellites. The satellite
proposed by Inmarsat would be the most advanced civil mobile telecommunication
satellite to date and would incorporate the next generation of
EADS Astrium's digital processing technology. The satellite will
support new and improved broadband services particularly to developing
countries to address the problems of a lack of affordable and
sustainable communications. It will put the UK at the forefront
of satellite telecommunications activities world-wide. Potentially
it offers total revenues of $300-600 million pa to the operator.
(b) What levels of funding have been found by the BNSC?
And
(c) What interaction there has been between BNSC, SEEDA,
LDA and EEDA on this project?
The total investment foreseen through the BNSC is some £42
million from DTI, and RDA's. There have been regular discussions
and exchanges between BNSC and the three RDAs and BNSC has provided
the material necessary to enable the RDAs to evaluate the Alphasat
project and commit £12 million each.
(d) Are there previous models of involving RDAs in space
investment and if the BNSC has plans to involve other RDAs in
future projects?
We believe that this is the first time that any of the RDAs
have supported an ESA technical space programme space project.
BNSC would be very interested to work with RDAs in future if there
is a business case to do so. On wider aspects, BNSC is working
closely on space education activities with Yorkshire Forward and
other regional agencies—particularly in terms of bringing
co-ordination to such activities.
BNSC AND OSI
(a) How frequent are meetings between staff at BNSC headquarters
and staff at OSI?
BNSC is an integral part of the OSI management structure.
At a formal level, DG BNSC has weekly meetings with corresponding
level staff at OSI, under the chairmanship of Sir Keith O'Nions.
BNSC Directors attend quarterly meetings of OSI Directors. At
a working level, BNSC and OSI staff interact on a daily basis
on a wide range of issues.
(b) What topics have been discussed in the last 12 months
at such meetings?
A comprehensive set of topics are discussed ranging from
OSI management and resources to general policy matters such as
CSR and Technology Strategy Board as well as space issues such
as policies on ESA, US collaboration and Galileo.
(c) How much interaction is there between staff at BNSC
headquarters and staff at the OSI Foresight programme?
At present, there is little formal interaction but more informal
contact take place.
INTERACTION WITH
THE MINISTRY
OF DEFENCE
During the last 12 months, when has the Minister for Science
and Innovation met Ministers at the Ministry of Defence to discuss
space issues?
On 17 April Mr Wicks met with Lord Drayson to discuss the
National Aerospace Technology Strategy Group. Space issues were
not specifically discussed.
SOCIAL POLICY
ISSUES
The Minister said that "I just wonder myself, coming
from a social science and social policy background, whether we
do not need to develop another strand of our thinking to see whether
some of the issues we face in terms of our society and social
policy could not be helped by the development of suitable satellite
technology and monitoring. I am thinking of the issue, for example,
of the care of an increasingly elderly and frail population where
many, many families and communities are worried about what is
happening to their 80 or 90-year-old person who may have Alzheimer's
or something".
(a) How much interaction has there been between the BNSC
and the Economic and Social Research Council regarding the above?
Would the BNSC consider working with ESRC or another Research
Council on promoting research in this area?
(b) How much interaction has there been between the BNSC
and Department of Health regarding the above?
Answer to (a) and (b)
The Minister and the BNSC are very keen to widen the potential
applications of space in the social field. The Minister's comments
to the Committee was intended as a challenge to BNSC and its stakeholders
to develop these ideas in relation to helping sections of the
elderly community who might benefit from applications from space.
Possible applications centre around the "home environment"
and "location-based services" where satellite broadband
and navigation solutions could offer scope for enhancing the safety,
quality and independence of living for sections of our community.
These are however early days and we have not had the opportunity
to discuss with colleagues in ESRC, other Research Councils and
the health sector. However we intend to take this forward in the
next months.
HOME OFFICE
The Minister said that "when we talk with the Home Office
people from St Albans they are interested in one area, which is
prisoner tagging" (Q637). How many meetings have there been
over the last year between BNSC staff and Home Office staff regarding
the applications satellite technology? What topics were discussed
at these meetings?
This was actually a statement from Dr Williams. BNSC and
Home Office scientific staff met in August 2006. Following an
overview by the Home Office of the challenges they face, an overview
was provided to the Home Office of the structure of BNSC, UK strengths
in space and UK space strategy, and the potential for space to
contribute to their solutions. Specific technology areas explored
included satellite positioning for offender tracking, Earth observation
for border security and operational surveillance, and "Google-Earth"
style tools for data presentation.
BNSC is maintaining a watching brief on these areas through
its involvement with satellite navigation and Earth observation
programmes, and expects to re-engage further with HO as appropriate.
There is a further meeting scheduled for June 2007, to pick up
connections with new contacts following HO reorganisation.
May 2007
| 
