UK has ‘biggest deficit’ in European Space Agency

UK spending watchdog questions Esa value for money as new science secretary emphasises space opportunities

The UK’s spending watchdog has questioned whether the nation gets value for money from its membership of the European Space Agency, a day after science secretary Peter Kyle highlighted the innovation opportunities in the space sector.

In a report commissioned by the UK Space Agency and published on 23 July, the National Audit Office scrutinised the country’s £553 million spend—85 per cent of UKSA funding—on Esa programmes in 2022-23, pointing out that the country received a lower return than France and Germany over most of the past decade.