Government response to Lords highlights key priorities in satellite services
The UK Government’s recently published its response to the House of Lords UK Engagement with Space Committee report, “The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out,” marks an important moment for the UK’s growing space sector.
As part of the inquiry informing this report, techUK contributed written and oral evidence, reinforcing industry perspectives on the essential roles of Satellite Communications (Satcoms), Earth Observation (EO), and Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT) in the UK's economic resilience and national security.
Watch techUK’s contribution of oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee for Engagement with Space here.
Reinforcing the UK’s satellite communications future
The House of Lords report sets out the vital nature of satcoms to the nation’s security and economic competitiveness, highlighting the role of commercial and government capabilities in ensuring resilient connectivity.
The Government, in its response, echoes this sentiment, acknowledging the importance of developing core satellite communications capabilities and modernising regulatory frameworks to ensure the UK remains competitive in a rapidly expanding global satcoms market. To guarantee resilient and secure satellite communications, the Government is investing £5 billion in the SKYNET programme over the next decade, establishing SKYNET 6 as the backbone of UK military satellite communications.
Recognising the fast‑evolving low Earth orbit (LEO) communications landscape, and the need for greater competition and user choice, Government policy aims to position the UK as a leader in commercial satellite communications, ensuring that domestic industry remains competitive both as a supplier and operator.
The Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (CLEO) programme will continue to develop next‑generation UK satcom technologies, alongside our leadership of the ESA ARTES programme, and satellite broadband trials with multiple suppliers in hard‑to‑reach areas.
These policy commitments align with industry recommendations, many championed by techUK, calling for agile regulation, secure supply chains, and increased industry-government collaboration to drive innovation and commercial growth in next-generation satcom technologies.
Position, Navigation & Timing: a strategic necessity, not an option
Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT) is identified in the House of Lords report as one of the critical mission areas for the UK’s space capabilities. PNT systems enable navigation, telecommunications, energy grids, financial transactions and emergency response, making them indispensable to the UK economy and national security architecture.
The Government’s response reinforces this, describing space-based PNT as essential for national resilience. With growing risks to global Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) systems, ranging from jamming to cyber threats, strengthening sovereign and resilient PNT capabilities is a strategic imperative. The report signals the Government's intention to maintain a strong focus on secure satellite navigation solutions as part of its broader space strategy.
The system-of-systems approach will provide sovereign, resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) capabilities that reduce dependence on GNSS such as Galileo and offer significantly enhanced protection against signal jamming and spoofing. This will include a National Timing Centre and an Enhanced Long-Range Navigation (eLoran) network, synchronised through a secure two-way satellite time and frequency transfer link to ensure national time resilience.
Complementing this, the UK will deploy a world‑leading PNT interference monitoring capability, enabling continuous detection, characterisation and response to threats such as signal interference, jamming, and spoofing across national infrastructure. Together, these components will form a robust and diversified PNT architecture designed to assure continuity of critical services even under hostile or degraded conditions.
Earth Observation: Powering Insights for Security, Growth and Sustainability
Earth Observation is another area highlighted by both the Committee and Government as central to the UK’s strategic and economic interests. EO data supports a vast range of missions: from monitoring climate change and natural disasters, to enabling precision agriculture, urban planning, and national security functions.
The Government acknowledges EO as a critical foundation for its science and technology ambitions and emphasising its role in supporting public services, innovation, and international competitiveness. The Government is making significant investments to strengthen the UK’s Earth Observation (EO) and satellite applications ecosystem, including around £85 million of planned support for the Satellite Applications Catapult between until 2028.
Innovate UK is coordinating closely with the Catapult, DSIT, UKSA, and MoD to ensure these investments deliver the right capabilities for industrial strategy priorities. In parallel, Defra intends to support commercialisation of the most promising solutions, working with Innovate UK Business Connect and the Satellite Applications Catapult. Together, these initiatives reflect a coordinated approach to strengthening UK EO capability, promoting innovation, and enabling industry to turn high‑quality national EO data assets into commercial and societal impact.
With global demand for EO services accelerating, the UK’s ability to cultivate domestic EO talent, infrastructure and commercial offerings will be essential. The Government’s commitments to international collaboration, particularly via the European Space Agency (ESA), are especially relevant here, given that every £1 invested in ESA EO programmes returns £7.49 in economic value.
A strong signal for the future of UK satellite capabilities
Taken together, the Government’s commitments around satellite communications, Earth observation, and PNT represent a clear recognition of the UK’s dependence on space-enabled services, while signalling an ambition to strengthen domestic capability and secure long-term resilience.
Within that context, the Government acknowledges the need to become a smarter procurer of space‑based data and services but has not yet published a full cross‑government procurement strategy. Instead, it is progressing practical steps through initiatives such as Unlocking Space for Government, which tackles barriers like fragmented demand, limited buyer expertise, and complex procurement pathways by running user‑centred design pilots, Contracts for Innovation competitions, and market‑engagement support for both departments and SMEs. These activities are already informing the future procurement strategy and are intended to help departments act as more consistent, capable customers of space‑enabled services.
On the defence side, upcoming reforms under the 2025 Defence Industrial Strategy, including a review of contracting frameworks and the creation of a new Space Systems Portfolio under the National Armaments Director, signal a shift toward more coherent, outcome‑focused procurement.
As the Government moves to implement its space strategy, techUK will continue to work closely with industry, academia and policymakers to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global space innovation.
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Meet the team
Sophie Greaves
Associate Director, Digital Infrastructure, techUK
Sophie Greaves is Associate Director for Digital Infrastructure at techUK, overseeing the Telecoms Programme, the Data Centres Programme, and the UK Spectrum Policy Forum.
Sophie leads our work across telecoms networks, security and resilience, supply chain diversification, advanced communications technologies, spectrum policy, and data centres - bringing these areas together into a dedicated Digital Infrastructure unit. She was previously Head of Telecoms and Spectrum Policy.
Prior to joining techUK, Sophie completed a masters in Film Studies at University College London; her dissertation examined US telecoms policy relating to net neutrality and content distribution.
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Tales Gaspar
Programme Manager, UK SPF and Satellite, techUK
Tales has a background in law and economics, with previous experience in the regulation of new technologies and infrastructure.
In the UK and Europe, he offered consultancy on intellectual property rights of cellular and IoT technologies and on the regulatory procedures at the ITU as a Global Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI).
Tales has an LL.M in Law and Business by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and an MSc in Regulation at the London School of Economics, with a specialization in Government and Law.
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Josh Turpin
Programme Manager, Telecoms and Net Zero, techUK
Josh joined techUK as a Programme Manager for Telecoms and Net Zero in August 2024.
In this role, working jointly across the techUK Telecoms and Climate Programmes, Josh is responsible for leading on telecoms infrastructure deployment and uptake and supporting innovation opportunities, as well as looking at how the tech sector can be further utilised in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Prior to joining techUK, Josh’s background was in public affairs and communications, working for organisations across a diverse portfolio of sectors including defence, telecoms and infrastructure; aiding clients through stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, media outreach as well as secretariat duties.
Outside of work, Josh has a keen interest in music, painting and sailing.
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- [email protected]
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- https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-turpin/
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