UK SPACE CONSULTATION: YOUR VIEWS ARE IMPORTANT

The House of Lords Committee on UK Engagement with Space published a call for written evidence for its inquiry to consider UK policies relating to space, and both the opportunities and challenges related to the UK’s engagement with space. It is inviting interested individuals and organisations to submit their views on these issues. 

RSPSoc will be responding to this, but wanted that response to be informed by your views. If you are able, can you get back to me by 13th April 2025.

Could you have a quick look at the inquiry questions below and let us know your views (on some or all). You can respond directly to me at membership@rspsoc.org.uk  and to the inquiry by clicking here. If you do respond to the inquiry can you also copy your response to me please.

The Committee has the following questions
•    The opportunities and challenges relating to the UK space sector, including the comparative strengths of the UK, how the sector’s growth can be supported, and the potential of new space technologies.
•    The opportunities and challenges facing space-related businesses operating in the UK, including access to capital, ability to ‘scale-up’, and international competition.
•    The existing international partnerships that the UK is involved in, and the potential for future partnerships with both state and commercial actors.
•    The importance of the provision of a safe operating environment in space, and how the UK can contribute to this, in particular regarding space weather and space debris.
•    The development of international space law and regulation.
•    The collaboration between academic institutions, government, and commercial space firms in the UK, including but not limited to space research and development and space spin-out and start-up firms.
•    Education and skills; in particular the skills gap in the UK space sector.
•    The future of UK space science and civil exploration.
•    The impact of space on national security and resilience.

A new PML-led project, funded through the NERC: Natural Environment Research Council Net Zero Aerial Capability (NZArC) programme, aims to revolutionise how underwater environments are mapped, particularly shallow waters like river sections and coastal areas with low turbidity.

Titled ‘A remotely piloted aerial Green LiDAR for mapping bathymetry of shallow waters and elevation of boundary land (Green LiDAR)’, the project involves collaborations with British Geological Survey, National Oceanography Centre, Scottish Association For Marine Science and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), using state-of-the-art aerial equipment to provide underwater mapping (bathymetry) data where other sensors struggle or simply fail to provide solutions.

Aser Mata Torollo, Project Leader and Earth Observation Scientist at PML, commented:

“Mapping of shallow waters is especially vital for studying blue carbon habitats such as mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes as these are some of the most efficient natural carbon sinks on Earth. These habitats store and sequester carbon at rates far exceeding tropical forests but mapping their underwater terrain and estimating carbon storage has been a major challenge”.

While bathymetry of the seabed or rivers can be obtained using other boat and instruments such as multibeam echosounders, these sensors cannot be deployed in very shallow waters. To help deliver mapping of ecologically and economically-important underwater environments that are hard-to-reach, the project has allowed for an innovative RIEGL UK Ltd VQ-840-GL Topo-Bathymetric LiDAR sensor to be obtained along with a dedicated third-party drone platform.

STRATEGY

We have a strategy to help guide us. It is our 75th anniversary in 2027. So, our current strategy will take us to there. You can read it here.

Each year we produce an annual report and impact statement, you can read this here

A new study recently published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, provides new insights into the meteorological processes responsible for the filling of a normally dry lake in the northwestern Sahara. The research offers a fresh perspective on past climate variations and suggests we can learn from past flooding of the lake on ongoing climate change and future water resources in the desert.

Research by Eniola Onatayo (2025) The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with remote sensing technologies presents a transformative approach to disaster monitoring and rapid response. As natural disasters become increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, the need for effective real-time monitoring systems has never been more critical.

The increasing demand for advanced technologies in dual use scientific exploration and military operations has led to significant advancements in unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). These versatile systems have become indispensable for conducting a variety of maritime missions, including environmental monitoring, resource exploration and defense-related applications. (Roh et al 2025)

Research by Eniola Onatayo (2025) The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with remote sensing technologies presents a transformative approach to disaster monitoring and rapid response. As natural disasters become increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, the need for effective real-time monitoring systems has never been more critical.

This study by Virtriana et al 2025 looks at changes in the demand for healthcare facilities in West Java by 2030. It uses both static and dynamic data processed at 30×30 metre intervals across West Java. Dynamic parameter extrapolation uses data from 2000 to 2018 using random forest machine learning. The results show changing need and identifies suitable locations for healthcare facility sites.

A message from the Chair of the RSPSoc

NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the first edition of our new monthly newsletter. You can read it here.

This study (Rana et al 2025) of land features in Vehari, Pakistan, uses remote sensing satellite imagery and machine learning to classify and analyse changes in land cover and land use between 1990 and 2025. It uses data from multispectral satellite images along with corresponding ground truth data, for training and validation of ML models. The study concludes that ML techniques, when integrated with remote sensing data, provide an effective means for monitoring and analysing land cover and land use.

Snow avalanches, one of the most severe natural hazards in mountainous regions, pose significant risks to human lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems. As climate change accelerates shifts in snowfall and temperature patterns, it is increasingly important to improve our ability to monitor and predict avalanches.