UK Space Agency

Memorandum submitted by the

Natural Environment Research Council (UKSA 05)

Introduction

1. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is one of the UK’s seven Research Councils. It funds and carries out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of environmental scientists.

2. Details of NERC’s Research and Collaborative Centres and major programmes are available at www.nerc.ac.uk .

3. NERC’s comments have been informed by a consultation with the NERC Earth Observation community including that managed through the NERC National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO). It does not include or necessarily reflect the views of the Science and Research Group in the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills.

4. In addition to the NERC response, one of our centres, NCEO, has made a separate submission to provide an additional perspective.

5. Both STFC and NERC are significant beneficiaries of outputs the UK Space Agency investments and were major partners in, and contributors to, the predecessor British National Space Centre (BNSC). Whilst the Councils have co-ordinated in preparing their responses, given the short time available, they have agreed to supply separate submissions to the inquiry.1

General Comments

6. Earth Observation (EO) satellites provide a unique perspective of our planet from space, especially when combined with data from in situ sensors and, with models, are a powerful tool for observing and understanding our environment. Addressing directly key challenges in the NERC Strategy2, EO from space has a central role to play in understanding the Earth system as a whole. EO overcomes the difficulty of obtaining accurate, continuous, simultaneous measurements of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface and interior. They are often the only way to highlight gradual change on a global scale.

7. NERC currently supports the infrastructure needed to provide scientists with satellite data as well as EO science and research. NERC’s EO investments include:

- Contributions to the European Space Agency3 (ESA) of approximately £44m per year. The largest part of this is for the UK subscription to the science and research element of ESA’s Living Planet Programme4, the Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP), which will help improve our understanding and minimise uncertainties associated with environmental change;

- The NERC National Centre for Earth Observation5 (NCEO), a NERC Collaborative Centre6 that provides the UK with National Capability in EO science;

- Specialist EO groups within its component Centres and Surveys providing National Capability in EO, and research grants and training to the wider community;

- A range of EO services and facilities7, including a data processing and analysis service, a remote sensing focussed aircraft, and a space geodesy facility; and

- A joint investment with the Technology Strategy Board, together with support from industry, in the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation8 (CEOI), which supports the development of instrument concepts.

8. NERC also supports the STFC-led, recently-established International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell. The vision of the EO component of ISIC, which NERC’s NCEO is leading on, is to create a focal point for EO in the UK; this focal point, or ‘hub’, will co-ordinate and complement other EO activities, both in the UK and further afield. Locating the hub at Harwell will also enable the EO community to engage and influence the new UK ESA Centre.

9. Following a public consultation9 and the subsequent decision to launch the new UK Space Agency10 (UKSA) in March 2010, NERC has agreed to transfer its share of the UK ESA subscription and its contribution to the CEOI to UKSA with effect from April 2011, when it will begin operating as a full executive agency. Responsibility for EO science and research, and the services and facilities that underpin this work, will remain with NERC, as these are integral to the delivery of world-class environmental science.

1. What progress has been made in setting up the UK Space Agency?

NERC is developing a strong partnership with UKSA to ensure the UK has an EO capability that continues to contribute to global scientific leadership and economic growth. Transition discussions with UKSA are underway. NERC would encourage greater transparency about the process of establishing UKSA and potential wider opportunities for the EO research community. Furthermore it encourages UKSA to engage with all interested stakeholders as it develops its strategy, and that through clear governance arrangements, EO interests are well represented and do not become marginalised.

1.1. Exact details of the transition arrangements are still to be finalised, however, and much of what is reported in our response can be described as "work in progress".

1.2. Discussions between NERC and UKSA to arrange the handover of the ESA subscription and CEOI have taken place; it is expected that the transfer will take place at the start of the new financial year (FY 11/12). Over the coming months NERC will continue to work with UKSA to develop further the interface between our organisations and align our EO portfolios.

1.3. Although the transition discussions between NERC and UKSA are underway, circulation of more information about the transition process to partners like NERC and to the wider EO community would be beneficial. More regular updates from UKSA would help NERC to minimise the uncertainty for staff affected by the transition, and help to resource and inform our contribution to the transition discussions. NERC welcomes recent proposals from UKSA to engage more widely with the EO community.

1.4. Much of the initial activity driving the development of UKSA has focussed on the industry-led Space Innovation and Growth Strategy11 report and recommendations. One of the key recommendations included the establishment of the Space Leadership Council (SLC) which is providing advice to ministers and oversight of UKSA activities. Greater clarity on the relationship between the IGS and UKSA, including the longer-term role of SLC would be helpful.

1.5. NERC (with the Met Office and industry involvement) is jointly leading on the IGS recommendation to develop a strategy for UK leadership on climate services12. NERC welcomes this involvement in helping to shape the UKSA strategy. It will be important for there to be engagement, particularly with the environmental science community, on some of the other IGS recommendations, for example in relation to the development of a National Space Technology Strategy (NSTS)13.

1.6. It is NERC’s view that EO should be a distinct and prominent part of the UKSA, reporting directly to the UKSA Chief Executive. The EO sector in the UK is complex, with many different stakeholders (including academia, policymakers, government agencies and institutes, industry, and commercial users of EO data) all of whom have different aims and requirements. It will be essential that UKSA maintains a good overview of and connections to this complex community, so it can facilitate collaborations and represent the interests of the whole community at both the national and international level. To do so UKSA will need a well-integrated EO team with strong leadership and a clear mandate. It will also be important that this community is strongly represented on the UKSA’s decision-making and advisory boards. Without strong and effective governance arrangements EO interests could become marginalised.

2. How does the UK Space Agency work with other bodies (national and international) on space issues?

NERC has agreed that it will continue to manage environmental research which uses EO measurements in a "dual key" approach with UKSA, ensuring respectively the delivery of world-class environmental research and sustained support for EO science and technology. More broadly, the UK is a relatively small but highly respected global player in EO, and with UK scientific, policy and industrial leadership we have an opportunity to choose strategic partnerships carefully to maximise return on investments. It will be important for UKSA to build and improve on existing links with the EO community, ensuring a strong voice for EO in ESA as well as building partnerships with other space agencies. A particular challenge for UKSA will be developing an integrated national technology programme that addresses EO needs from concept to mission.

2.1. The relationship with UKSA will be an important one for NERC. NERC needs to ensure that it has access to the space observations needed to deliver environmental science and the NERC strategy, and UKSA needs to be assured that its investments in space hardware for environmental science will be exploited. UKSA and NERC have agreed to facilitate this.

2.2. A particular challenge for UKSA is to agree and articulate how EO technology development will be managed and funded to ensure the appropriate technology levels can be covered from concept to mission stages. This should build on the NERC/TSB/industry supported CEOI which has focussed on the development of new instrument concepts. It is important that these issues are addressed in the work related to the IGS recommendation to develop a National Space Technology Strategy (see also response to Q1).

2.3. EO is a contributor to environmental science, policy, and applications, rather than an end in itself. To be successful, UKSA will need strong links to the academic, policy and industrial communities to understand their EO needs and help them take advantage of the many current opportunities for growth. UKSA should also work closely with the Met Office where significant investment in EO falls outside the civil space programme for which the Agency is responsible. UKSA should also consider how it will develop links between the different parts of the space sector where there are areas of common interest and overlapping technology requirements. Maintaining and developing these relationships, maximising synergies and aligning public and private sector investment, should be a priority for UKSA.

2.4. UKSA will need to understand all elements of UK EO to allow it to effectively represent UK interests at an international level. A key international partner for UKSA will be ESA, and the ESA subscription will represent a large portion of UKSA’s budget. NERC has developed a good working relationship with ESA on EO, and will encourage UKSA to build on this by continuing to invest in and proactively engage with ESA to influence the direction of the EO programmes and provide opportunities for UK academia and industry to win funding from ESA. UKSA will also be the primary interface with other space agencies, several of which, such as NASA and INPE (the Brazilian Space Agency), have already expressed an interest in working with the UK. NERC already has active collaborations with these agencies and will be happy to work with UKSA to develop further these and other partnerships.

3. Is the UK Space Agency more effective at coordinating space policy than its predecessor, the British National Space Centre?

NERC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the wider debate around the long-term UKSA strategy including the articulation of the needs of EO for environmental science to address the challenges in the NERC Strategy.

3.1. It is too early to judge whether or not UKSA is more effective at co-ordinating space policy than BNSC. Currently UKSA is still implementing the UK Civil Space Strategy (2008-12)14, developed by BNSC and its partners, although it will develop its own strategy in due course. Through the IGS the space industry has had an opportunity to present its views to Government on the future of space in the UK. It will be important for the academic and policy EO sectors to also have an opportunity to contribute to such thinking as the new strategy develops. The new strategy should take account of recent developments such as the creation of the International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) and UKSA itself, and be developed for, and in consultation with, the whole space sector, aligning with other relevant strategies, including NERC’s.

3.2. In addition to involving the community in the development of its overall strategy, NERC will encourage UKSA to engage relevant parties in the discussions on individual policy lines, for example for ESA’s programme boards and meetings with other space agencies. In line with this, UKSA should adopt an open and transparent decision-making process, especially as financial constraints are likely to mean that UKSA has to make difficult prioritisation decisions in the next few years. This should include an open call for members for any UKSA boards, publishing the minutes of board meetings, and consulting stakeholders, especially where any funding decisions will have a direct impact on them.

4. What should the UK Space Agency’s priorities be for the next five years?

For NERC the UKSA strategy should support the observations needed to sustain the excellence and impact of the UK environmental science community. To deliver this, UKSA priorities should include the development of a sustainable integrated EO community; support for the end-to-end development of new missions; a strong voice for EO both nationally and in partnership with ESA and other space agencies.

4.1. UKSA has already stated that "collaboration lies at the heart of the UK Space Agency ethos and applies across Government as well as to external organisations including European and global partners15." We agree with this statement and believe that developing these collaborations should be the main priority of UKSA over the next five years. Most importantly for EO, development of UKSA strategy and its associated priorities should be carried out in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. Priorities should include:

1. Co-ordinating the development of an integrated UK space-based EO community. A priority for UKSA should be increasing integration and understanding within the EO community and where appropriate fostering the development of partnerships, for example between scientists and technologists. A strong, integrated EO sector will position the UK to take advantage of opportunities for science and policy leadership as well as contribute to economic growth.

2. Capacity building and skills development. Ensuring adequate supply of trained personnel within the UK should be a priority for the UKSA.

3. Raising awareness and maximising the impact of NERC EO research. Many parts of the private and public sector are not aware of the potential of satellite data or how to use it. UKSA will need to ensure that there is effective knowledge transfer between different sectors, including maximising the potential societal and economic impact of NERC research.

4. Maintaining a strong role in ESA including continued support for EO programmes. By pooling its resources with other European states the UK can contribute to the development of far more missions than it could on its own. However, it is important to proactively engage with ESA in order to influence it programmes so that they meet our requirements and to maximise the opportunities for UK academia and industry.

5. Supporting the end-to-end development of EO instrumentation. UKSA should build on the initial investment in the CEOI and establish a programme, reflecting the UK’s scientific and technical strengths, to support the complete development of EO instruments from concept to mission.

6. Raising the profile of UK Earth observation at the international level. Engaging at the international level is essential if the UK is to remain at the forefront in Earth Observation, influence the international agenda, and increase the impact of our EO investments by collaborating with key partners to share expertise and costs. UKSA should also recognise the role that inter-governmental organisations such as the Group on Earth Observations16 (GEO) make in coordinating EO investments and strategies, and its applications for societal benefits.

5. Is the UK Space Agency adequately funded?

Our response highlights the importance of determining how funding decisions should be made, and the value of continuing the UK’s current investments in Earth Observation. It should be noted that space-based Earth Observation requires long-term planning and sustained strategic investment. Funding decisions made now will affect the UK’s ability to compete internationally for many years to come, both in scientific leadership, global policy development and in high tech/high value manufacturing and wealth creation.

5.1. It is not appropriate for NERC to comment directly on UKSA financing.

5.2. UKSA will need a governance structure that gives it an understanding of the issues affecting the whole space sector to ensure that the activities UKSA continues to support are those which will produce the greatest benefit and so it can properly balance its investments in EO, space science, communications and navigation, and other space sectors (see also Q1).

5.3. For NERC the scientific, societal and economic benefits of the EO activities UKSA is inheriting are clear. Therefore NERC will strongly argue that UKSA should continue to invest in Earth Observation, and in ESA in particular. Having access to the broad range of data available from ESA allows NERC scientists to tackle many of the important environmental issues we face, and as a result of our partnership with ESA, the UK is at the forefront of EO research.

The Natural Environment Research Council

August 2010