The UK Space Agency has commissioned Frazer-Nash Consultancy to review the nation’s capacity to deliver on in-situ resource utilisation capabilities. According to the agency, the results of the study will be used to “inform future activities in this area.”
In an 18 August press release, Surrey-based Frazer-Nash Consultancy explained that the study will examine the UK’s in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) capabilities in the wider international context. It will also assess technological gaps and options to overcome them, as well as identify potential UK contributions to international ISRU efforts.
As a “first step,” Frazer-Nash has asked companies developing ISRU technology or solutions to complete a 10-minute survey before 17 October.
“Frazer-Nash is leading an important piece of work for the agency that will support the understanding and evidence base for the UK’s future direction and activities in the realm of ISRU,” said Conor Hagan, Exploration Technology Manager at the UK Space Agency. “We are eager to see the results of this work and encourage all organisations involved in this area to participate as comprehensively as possible.”
Only days after the 18 August Frazer-Nash announcement, on 20 August, the government announced reforms claiming the UK Space Agency’s full integration into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology would “cut duplication, reduce bureaucracy, and put public accountability at the heart of decision-making.” Yet even as the agency is presented as moving toward being leaner and more accountable, it is outsourcing the kind of fundamental sector analysis it should arguably be carrying out itself.
According to its own website, the UK Space Agency employs just over 320 scientists, engineers, commercial experts, project managers, and policy officials. While this is dwarfed by the 2,400 staff at CNES and the 10,000 at DLR (which is admittedly not focused only on space activities), the agency’s budget of more than £600 million in 2023 was in fact greater than the space component of DLR’s, which relied on around €530 million that year. Why, then, does the UK Space Agency appear incapable of carrying out its own market analysis?
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