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Lord Cromwell (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 18 November 2025

Debate

Space Debris

Contribution

My Lords, I suppose I should declare a small interest as having been the progenitor of the space committee. We think of space as infinite. In fact, the usable orbits are a crowd of high-speed rubbish. Just a fleck of paint will do damage. Not long ago, a single bolt took out a French satellite. The only satisfaction was that the bolt had come from another French satellite, but that is another story. Does the Minister agree that there is a serious economic opportunity here for the United Kingdom to take the lead on the legal and licensing issues in this global space, which is still the Wild West? I leave noble Lords with an image in their minds: it is full of dangerous shrapnel. Sooner or later, an astronaut will be killed.

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