We shared yesterday the news that the Government has published the new UK Space Strategy, alongside its Technical Delivery Annex. Ahead of publication, SPAN was invited to provide a response from our Co-Chairs, Professors Anna Hogg and Mark Sims. Their statement has been included in the Government’s announcement:
“SPAN welcomes the new cross-Government space strategy and its integrated delivery plan. Space technologies and services are integral to modern life, from secure communications to monitoring and responding to environmental change. We look forward to seeing the detail of the strategy and delivery plan, which will be critical in enabling academia and industry to plan, invest and work together to deliver the UK’s ambitions for space. Sustained investment across academia and industry is crucial to creating the cutting-edge technologies, capabilities, talent and growth of the future.”
There is clearly a great deal here for the academic space community to consider. Over the coming week, we will be digesting the Strategy and Technical Delivery Annex in more detail, particularly what they mean for the UK’s academic and research community and for collaboration across academia, industry and government.
At our next SPAN Town Hall we will share further reflections and opportunities for the SPAN community to discuss the Strategy once we have had the opportunity to work through the detail. Dates of SPAN meetings are posted online, once we have confirmation of invited speakers we will share the date.
10 August 2026
Over the summer Anushka Sharma had the privilege of moderating discussions and speaking on panels across the UK space sector, from security and defence at Farnborough International Airshow, to running a session on SPAN at the National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham, and most recently joining a panel on DWC Resilience forum hosted at Fieldfisher
24 June 2026
SPAN Town Hall reinforced SPAN's role as the national voice of the UK space academic community and highlighted the growing recognition across government that academia is central to delivering the UK's ambitions in space through research excellence, innovation and strategic collaboration.
28 March 2026
SPANS’s Space Data White Paper This paper generated to review space data state of the art and areas where policy and investment can underpin the UK ambitions in Space
