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The new science minister David Willetts says space is an important growth sector for the UK economy and he intends to do all he can to support it. "I believe in the space industry," he told BBC News. "Britain has a comparative advantage and we will carry on backing space."
Mr Willetts was speaking after chairing the UK Space Leadership Council, which advises government on space matters. The group includes interests across industry, academia and government.
He said the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition would pick up where the previous government had left off and would put "energy into the programme".
UK space had witnessed some key developments just prior to the General Election. These included the establishment of an executive space agency, and the production of a major report that set out a strategy to grow the British space industry over the next 20 years, creating 100,000 jobs in the process.
Mr Willetts acknowledged that the election process had paused the momentum, but he told the Council that he was ready to push forward again.
He paid tribute to his predecessor, the Labour science minister Lord Drayson, for his efforts on space, and said the coalition had no intention of tearing up good work just for the sake of it.
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