UK increases investment in ESA

BBC : In a speech to the Royal Society, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced a two-year spending increaseâmdash;£60 million ($95.7 million) per yearâmdash;for the European Space Agency. By increasing the contribution, Osborne hopes ESA will award more contracts to UK companies. The UK space industry has seen an average growth of 7.5% since 2008 and is one of the fastest growing areas of the economy. As part of the increased investment, ESA has agreed to base its satellite telecommunications headquarters in Harwell, Oxfordshire. Despite the increased space spending, the UK’s overall civil research budget will continue to be cut over the next two years until it is 10% lower than the 2010 budget.