Lord Drayson Announces New UK Space Agency
Lord Drayson, the Science and Innovation Minister has announced that Great Britain will be the recipient of it’s very own dedicated space agency. The new body will be responisble for all future space activities conducted in the UK as well as replace the soon-to-be obsolete British National Space Centre.
At present, British space dealings are overseen by a casual co-op of various Government departments and councils. The new agency, however, will join the departments and research councils to form a more comprehensive, cohesive approach to space research and development.
The new space agency, which is as of yet still unnamed, was developed after a 12-week consultation with the public gauging reactions on how to fund, oversee, and organize the birth of the new facility. The new agency will be modeled after similar agencies in Germany, Italy, and France, all of which already have space agencies that operate as a single body with one budget.
Lord Drayson, who has publicly rallied for a space agency such as this, said that the space industry in the UK had not been affected by the recession, and is a prime example of extraordinary UK science which creates jobs and should be expanded.
Lord Drayson announced the new agency was under development and had been approved while giving a speech at the Rutherford Appleton Space Conference held in Didcot, Oxfordshire. Departments under the new agency will include six Government departments, The Technology Strategy Board, two research councils, and the Met Office.
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