UK independent space agency scrapped to cut costs
It will be absorbed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in April 2026.
The government says this will save money, cut duplication and ensure ministerial oversight.
But one leading space scientist said the move would lead to disruption in the short term and the UK losing ground to its international competitors over the long run.
Dr Simeon Barber of the Open University feared that scrapping UKSA would lead to Britain's space sector "losing focus".
"Around the world countries have been recognising the importance of space by setting up national space agencies, and for the government to be scrapping ours seems like a backward step," he said.
UKSA was created 2010 in response to the growing importance of the sector to the economy.
The development of small spacecraft, satellites and space instrumentation is a field that the UK excels at, thanks in part due to the agency. Its role is to develop the country's space strategy, coordinate research and commercial activities and liaise with international partners.
During its tenure UKSA saw a UK astronaut, Tim Peake launched into space to work on the International Space Station and the development of Britain's own capability to launch small satellites and other small payloads into space from Scotland.
The space sector generates an estimated £18.6bn a year and employs 55,000 people across the country.
The agency, its budget and activities will now be absorbed into DSIT. It follows a commitment from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reduce costs and cut the number of arms length government bodies, known as quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations), starting with the abolition of NHS England announced in March.
Space minister Sir Chris Bryant said: "Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the sector."
The merger will see the agency become a unit within DSIT, staffed by experts from both organisations and retaining the UKSA name.
But supporters of the space agency, such as Dr Barber fear that this will mean a loss of the agency's dynamic, proactive approach which has proved to be so successful for the UK's space science and its space industry.
He said there was a danger of moving to more bureaucratic, less incentivised ways of working, which he said were more typical of government departments, and were the reason the agency was created in the first place.
"It feels like we're going to get stuck in the mud again," he told BBC News.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Explained: How much is the government paying to house asylum seekers in hotels?
Anti-immigration protests have surged in recent weeks, with some targeting hotels used to house asylum seekers, sparking violence and prompting multiple arrests. Amid the demonstrations, misleading claims about the cost of accommodating migrants have been spreading widely online. But what does it actually cost to house asylum seekers in hotels — and how are false figures shaping public anger? Misleading figures spread online One focal point has been the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, East London, which has witnessed clashes between anti-immigration protesters and anti-racism demonstrators, leading to the arrest of two people on 8 August. Social media posts and viral messages have claimed that housing asylum seekers in hotels costs the government between £200 and £500 per night. However, there is no evidence to support these figures. One expert claims these kinds of falsehoods are 'most likely spread with a strategic purpose in mind'. The real cost The Home Office told The Independent that the Britannia Hotel costs £81 per night to house asylum seekers. In March 2025, the average cost per night for a hotel room used to accommodate asylum seekers was £118.87 — down from £162.16 in March 2023. Across all hotels, this equates to around £5.77m per day, down from £8.3m per day the previous year. Stephan Lewandowsky, Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Bristol, told The Independent that false information spreads because divisive posts attract more attention from readers. He said: 'Social media algorithms favour information that is outrage-evoking because it generates more audience engagement – hence making more money for the platforms – and in consequence disinformation often has an advantage over factual content and spreads faster and further. On top of that, the goal is, of course, to incite hatred and what better way to do that than to spread outrageous falsehoods.' These misleading claims are not just a matter of numbers. Experts warn they could amplify public anger and stoke already high tensions. 'There is now very clear and strong evidence that online misinformation can cause real-world harms. For example, last year's riots in the UK targeted mosques based on the false rumour that the perpetrator of a heinous crime was a Muslim refugee – he was not, he was a native-born British citizen,' Mr Lewandowsky said. Court ruling piles pressure on Starmer Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after Epping Forest District Council secured an interim High Court injunction to ban migrants from being housed at The Bell Hotel after weeks of protests at the site. The council argued the site had become a 'feeding ground for unrest' following a spate of violent protests that left several police officers injured. On 4 August, Starmer condemned the violence as 'far-right thuggery' and warned that those responsible would face the 'full force of the law.' For now, one of many challenges for ministers will be to ensure the facts about the costs of asylum hotels are reaching the public.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Donbas and Crimea are Ukraine. That is not negotiable.
I was born in Donbas in 1981, and I lived there until I was 17. Soon after that, I built a new life in Kyiv. I lost both of my homes to Russia — first to criminal rule in the 1990s and then to war. Today, I live in California, where I fled in February 2022 with my young son to keep him safe after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. But Donbas remains in my bones. It is Ukrainian land, and it must not be traded away for the illusion of peace.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Huckabee blames Europe for stalled Gaza talks, highlighting a growing Western divide
JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sought Wednesday to blame a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognize Palestinian statehood. Talks over a lasting ceasefire have repeatedly stalled since the early months of the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — and long before there was any talk of major European states recognizing Palestinian statehood. The decisions were announced by France, Britain and other countries after the Trump administration's Mideast envoy had already walked away in frustration from the negotiations, which happened behind closed doors. It's unclear how and when they began to break down. But Huckabee's remarks in an interview with The Associated Press point to a sharp divide among Western nations about how to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the rift has only deepened since President Donald Trump took office. Many European countries have sought to pressure Israel — the stronger party — and frame the pursuit of a two-state solution as a way to address the root causes of a conflict that long predates the war in Gaza. But the Trump administration has given Israel wide latitude to end the war on its terms. A dispute over which side should be pressured The White House fully supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to end an earlier ceasefire that Trump had helped broker and resume wide-ranging military operations, during which Israel prevented food, medicine and other goods from entering Gaza for more than two months. Trump appears to have adopted Israel's position that further military pressure — including a planned offensive into some of the most densely populated areas of Gaza — will force Hamas to surrender. 'We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!' Trump posted this week on his Truth Social site. Meanwhile, France, Britain and more than two dozen other Western-aligned nations have expressed mounting outrage at Israel's actions, demanding that it halt the fighting and do more to facilitate humanitarian aid. The moves to recognize Palestinians statehood — which were largely symbolic — were in part aimed at pressuring Israel to halt its offensive. Britain explicitly linked the two, saying it would hold off on recognizing a Palestinian state if Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, stopped building settlements in the West Bank and committed to a two-state solution. Israel's current government and most of its political class were opposed to Palestinian statehood even before the war, and they now say it would reward Hamas and allow the militants to eventually carry out more Oct. 7-style attacks. 'A counterproductive effect' Huckabee, who is himself a longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, said the 'noise that has been made by European leaders recently ... is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want.' 'If they believe that unilaterally calling for a two-state, a Palestinian state recognition, immediately brings them closer, the sad truth is it's taking them further away,' he said. The AP sought comment from the foreign ministries of France and Britain, which did not immediately respond. Most Palestinians believe the decades-old conflict is rooted in Israel's military occupation of lands they want for an independent state and its continuous expansion of Jewish settlements. Attempts to negotiate a two-state solution going back to the early 1990s repeatedly broke down as violence flared, and no serious or substantive talks have been held since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009. On Wednesday, Israel approved plans for settlements in an area known as E1 outside Jerusalem, which the Palestinians and others say will cut the West Bank in half and make the establishment of a viable and contiguous state virtually impossible. Past U.S. administrations joined their Western allies in vehemently opposing such plans. Trump and Huckabee — a strong supporter of Israeli settlements — did not. Ceasefire talks have shown signs of progress The ceasefire talks have continued, with Hamas saying this week that it accepted a proposal from Arab mediators that is similar to an earlier one advanced by the U.S. and accepted by Israel. Israel and the U.S. have not yet responded to the offer. Huckabee said he could not elaborate on the talks beyond saying he would not trust that Hamas is serious until they 'put their signatures on it' and that the group could be 'stringing this along,' as the U.S. and Israel have alleged in the past. The main disagreement has been over the conditions in which the war would end. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it is committed to returning all the hostages, defeating and disarming Hamas, and maintaining lasting security control over the territory. In Israel, many blame Netanyahu for the failure of the talks, accusing him of seeking to prolong the war in order to keep his far-right governing coalition intact. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets over the weekend to protest his planned offensive and call for a deal to return the captives. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
