ROOM
100
Opinion
Success story
UK space is the industry major success story and
it is expected that the industry would continue to
grow, though targets include business in the EU as
well as globally.
The immediate concern about Brexit is probably
uncertainty about the future but this might
become clearer after Article 50 has been triggered
and the two-year negotiations for Brexit begin in
earnest. It is possible that all the talk about a hard
Brexit stems from the adoption of an initial hard
bargaining position; only time will tell.
Some in the industry also have a sense of
optimism that the UK will be able to cope as a
consequence of its leadership in some areas of
technology and also an increased focus on markets
outside the EU.
UK space industry has participated extensively
in ESA-EU projects such as Galileo and
Copernicus, and continued involvement might be
at risk following Brexit, without an agreement for
the UK to continue to so.
However, the participation to date might also
work in the UK’s favour as its absence from the
project might be seen by ESA and the EU as a
considerable loss for them (and not just the UK).
A further concern relates to the use of
satellites such as Galileo where basic services are
available to all, but use of the encrypted, robust
Public Regulated Service (PRS) for government-
authorised users such as fire brigades and the
police may be restricted outside of the EU. If that
were the case it may still be possible for the UK to
negotiate continued access post-Brexit.
A soft Brexit would allow continued access to the
European Single Market, so the effects on the UK
space industry would probably be much less. A hard
Brexit, however, would have implications for the
free movement of goods, with potentially negative
consequences on the export of UK-manufactured
goods to mainland Europe and the import of
components, with the risk of tariffs and customs-
related paperwork. This would be particularly
difficult for companies working in the aerospace
industry that have multiple sites across Europe,
many of which may be manufacturing parts for
assembly elsewhere.
Higher education
A further concern for the British space industry
and also higher education is the effect of Brexit
on the free movement of people. The UK space
industry often has multi-national teams working
on space projects and there is a high proportion
of people from other EU countries working in the
UK space industry. Furthermore, this movement of
people is not only one way. There are UK citizens
working on space-related projects in ESA, in
universities and the space industry across the EU.
The status post-Brexit of EU citizens in the UK and
UK citizens in the EU is currently uncertain.
A hard Brexit is viewed by many in academia as
a major threat to higher education and research in
UK universities. The world-class status of many UK
universities has been achieved through growing
networks of international partnerships during the
decades in which the UK has been part of the EU.
This has led to the most successful institutions
competing across the EU and indeed globally for the
best talent. As with the space industry, universities
have a high proportion of staff who are EU nationals
from outside the UK. However, there is concern that
following the referendum vote there is a perceived
anti-immigrant tone and consequently many
academics from the EU are now unwilling to work at
UK universities, while others are leaving.
There is also concern about potential negative
impact on scientific research. From conversations
during early 2016, including with scientists involved
in space-related projects, it was clear that they were
concerned about negative implications if ‘Leave’
won the referendum. UK universities are among
the biggest beneficiaries from EU research funding
- such as Horizon 2020 - and fear loss of research
funding, while those in the EU are questioning the
UK’s participation in research projects and consortia.
There is considerable support across the board
for continued UK participation in ESA after Brexit
Artistic depiction of
European Galileo
navigation satellites in
their 23,222 km altitude
orbit. Galileo is a joint EU/
ESA project.
OHB
