Launching Britain into the new space age

New Statesman​

23-04-2025

The British astronaut Tim Peake during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, 15 January 2016. Photo by Nasa Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
Taking our young grandsons to Disneyworld, much as we took their mother 30 years before, I was struck by how cleverly everything is geared towards children, prams (or 'strollers', in the local parlance) and families. It was a joy to watch their encounters with characters, from early shy glances to full-on cuddles, and their first taste of roller coasters.
On my first visit all those years ago, I couldn't believe there was a place where feeding children, changing nappies ('diapers') and welcoming families were all part of the experience. I was disappointed when the Thatcher government failed to offer Disney incentives to build its European theme park in the UK, so I am delighted to see Universal is now coming to Bedford. For many families, a trip to Paris, or more so to Florida, is out of the question, but a day in Bedford might be possible if pricing, especially for kids, can be kept affordable. I'm hoping it will feature Harry Potter and James Bond attractions, and, with luck, some Minions as well.
From Disneyworld to Trumpworld
While I was enjoying myself in Florida, the news came that the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, where I am a fellow, had been almost entirely shut down by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Congressionally chartered in honour of the only US president to have a PhD, the think tank's expertise and experience in foreign and security policy had been at the service of Congress for 60 years. A bipartisan body, it offers training and advice to members of Congress and their staff, and has won accolades for its work internationally. It houses the Kennan Institute, including the personal library of George Kennan, the author of the 'Long Telegram', and the Kissinger Institute on China, together with the Polar Institute, which focuses on Arctic issues. Programmes on Europe, the Middle East and much more will be lost unless new homes can be found – and quickly. The future is also uncertain for the foreign scholars from countries such as Afghanistan and Belarus who faced threats to their lives and careers in their home countries but received residential fellowships at Wilson to carry on their work.
A few staff remain to shutter the place before the building is turned over for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or 'Ice'. Four polite young men in their twenties, I understand, came to tell the 130 employees to leave, and to fire the CEO (he resigned before they arrived). A couple of them, who had only arrived in DC a few days before, took a few moments to ask the staff for recommendations on what to do and where to eat while in the city.
Out of this world
I am delighted to be welcoming the astronaut Tim Peake to the inquiry being conducted in the Lords on Britain's engagement with space. I am very fortunate to be chairing a committee with such an enthusiastic, knowledgeable group of peers. All bar one remember the moon landing (well, this is the House of Lords) although one or two were tiny tots when it happened.
We have already heard from some serious entrepreneurs doing incredible work in space, from health pioneers able to grow skin in space (it is easier without gravity) to robots that repair satellites in space, rather than having to return everything to the ground each time something needs to be fixed. Professor Brian Cox and the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who commanded the International Space Station, have already given us the benefit of their knowledge.
Arguably, the space economy is just an extension of our Earth-based search for economic growth, and the opportunities for the UK are real. Not only do we have brilliant innovators in space technology but also in financial and legal services, as well as experience in dealing with space debris and future regulation. But our entrepreneurs are being offered greater opportunities elsewhere, with fewer risks as part of bigger enterprises, and there is unquestionably a need for more investment. With a return rate of 10:1 seemingly, since the days of the Apollo moon landings, it is a good moment to consider how public and private investment can leverage a uniquely British contribution to the new space race.
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Magnum opus
I had a strange moment in the House of Lords recently as a Conservative peer of long-standing familiarity with both houses of parliament crossed my path, clutching a bottle of Champagne. He was celebrating his birthday, and noted that the Pugin Room in the Commons sells Champagne more cheaply than the next-door Peers' Guest Room to which he was returning with his booty. MPs' bars get bigger subsidies he noted, with the air of someone who had beaten the system.
[See also: Taking on the manosphere death cult]
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