HyPIR Lecturer provides testimony to Parliaments Brexit Committee on Galileo programme and UK space policy

On Wednesday 9 May Dr Bleddyn Bowen, Lecturer in International Relations at HyPIR, provided oral testimony at a hearing of the UK Parliament’s House of Commons Exiting the EU Select Committee.

MPs at the Select Committee were interested in learning more about the implications of Brexit for Britain’s continued access to the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation project, both in terms of manufacturing contracts as well as access to secure military-grade data and services.

As an expert in astropolitics and the military and security uses of outer space, Dr Bowen told the Select Committee that the UK Government’s current proposal to build a rival satellite system to Galileo is not a credible option, given the expense and duplication of effort involved, and that there are many other areas of British spacepower that are better candidates for public investment.

The testimony provided was based on Dr Bowen’s recent research publication in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, which can be found here.

• Dr Bowen also wrote a short blog post on Brexit and British space policy here
• You can watch Dr Bowen’s contribution to the Select Committee hearing here, at the time 10:40:24 onwards.
• A BBC News article on the hearing, which quotes Dr Bowen, can be accessed here.