Space - Beyond the Event Horizon

by Dr Colin Hicks, Director General,
British National Space Centre

Tuesday 11 April 2006

** SPECIAL EVENT **

Public open lecture - All visitors welcome - No admission fee - No tickets required - Doors open 5:30pm

Introduction

Dr Colin Hicks, who retires at the end of April after more than six years as Director General of the British National Space Centre, will give his view of Space - what has been and what might be. Dr Hicks will attempt to draw out the reality behind and beyond the space events which mould our thinking about space policy in the national, European and international arenas.

The British National Space Centre (BNSC) is a voluntary partnership, formed from 11 Government Departments and Research Councils, to coordinate UK civil space activity. Together their expenditure on civil space amounts to around £195 million per year.

BNSC believes in putting space to work for the benefit of all citizens, and aims to get the most scientific and economic value out of its activities in space. This is why the UK's civil space policy focuses strongly on cost-effectiveness in space programmes and investment is largely in areas with the greatest commercial potential, such as Earth observation, satellite communication and navigation.

At the centre of UK civil space policy, BNSC facilitates cooperation on the national and international level. By representing both academic and industrial interests, BNSC provides the UK space community with a strong voice in international negotiations.

The UK is one of the world's biggest users of space data and technology. UK civil space industry, with an estimated workforce of around 6000 people, has a turnover some three times government expenditure, a ratio that compares favourably with the US.

All Departments and Research Councils with acknowledged interests in civil space agreed on the current UK Space Strategy 2003-2006 and beyond. Its vision for UK space is: "UK will be the most developed user of space-based systems in Europe for Science, enterprise and environment. UK Citizens will provide and exploit the advanced space-based systems and services which will stimulate innovation in the knowledge-driven society." It has three core long-term objectives:

• enhancing the UK's standing in astronomy, planetary and environmental sciences;
• stimulating increased productivity by promoting the use of space in government, science and commerce; and
• developing innovative space systems, to deliver sustainable improvement in the quality of life.

Approximately 65 percent of UK civil space expenditure is channelled through the European Space Agency, ESA. The UK was a founder member of ESA, which provides cooperation in space science, technology and applications among European States. A joint European Space Strategy combining EU strength in policy making with ESA's technological expertise was adopted in November 2000, to provide a framework for Europe-wide exploitation of satellite technology in areas as diverse as communications, navigation and Earth observation. This led in 2004 to a Framework Agreement between the two bodies to regulate their relations; and a White Paper on European Space Policy. Under the Framework Agreement their have been two meetings of the Joint EU-ESA Ministerial Space Council to develop the European Space Policy.

 
Earth Observation

 
Industry

 
Space Exploration

 
Exploiting Space

 
Education

Dr Colin Hicks retires at the end of April 2006 from the post of Director General of the British National Space Centre (BNSC) which he has held since October 1999 with responsibility for co-ordinating the UK civil space programme across the eleven UK government departments and agencies in the BNSC partnership.

Colin Hicks did his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Bristol (1964-70). He then lectured in Thermodynamics at University of the West Indies in Jamaica (1970-73), did post-doctoral research at the University of Exeter (1973-75), and worked at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington (1975-1980). Since 1980 he has held a wide range of posts related to R&D policy within DTI - including an eighteen month secondment to Barclays Bank.