LONDON: The British government has emphatically endorsed its investment in the 22-nation European Space Agency and rejected a parliamentary proposal that its space budget be more evenly divided between ESA and a national program.
Countering the centrifugal trend in Europe — highlighted by the U.K. decision to quit the European Union — the government reaffirmed that Brexit will have no effect on the UK role in ESA.
“The UK’s investment in the European Space Agency is an important part of our overall investment in space, from which we obtain excellent value,” the government said in a written response to questions from the UK Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee, which were published Nov. 24.
ESA “is a membership organization which contains members from both within and outside the European Union, and the UK will continue to be a member of the European Space Agency after the UK leaves the European Union.”
