PRESS RELEASE. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, subject to sign-off, which is expected in Q3.
The UK Space Agency is delighted to announce that it has completed its integration into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The Agency has ceased to exist as a standalone body. It is now a “delivery function within a broader strategic portfolio”. Staff describe this as “a lot”.
Unlocking Synergies
The merger is expected to unlock significant synergies. These include a shared printer, a shared kitchen and a shared sense of having been shared. Former Agency staff will move to a hot-desking arrangement on the fourth floor, where 140 desks have been allocated to 212 people. A rota has been drawn up. It is laminated.
“This is a momentous day for British space ambition,” said Dr Helen Marsden, Interim Director of Strategic Convergence. “Our ambition has not changed. It has simply been aligned with the Department’s wider priorities, which are numerous and in some cases classified as ‘Other’.”
The Agency’s mission to Mars remains on track. It now requires three levels of approval, a business case template (version 7), and a valid cost-centre code. The code has been requested. The team responsible for issuing codes has been merged and is currently between codes.
A Bold New Identity
The Agency has adopted a new motto to reflect its new home. It is To Infinity, Subject to Approval. A previous motto, Ad Astra, was withdrawn after a legal review found it insufficiently measurable.
All staff must also complete a mandatory e-learning module titled “Gravity: Your Responsibilities”. The module takes 45 minutes and has a pass mark of 80 per cent. Engineers who have spent careers calculating orbital trajectories are reminded that they must still click through every slide. Question six asks whether gravity is “a risk, an issue or a dependency”. Several staff have appealed the answer.
Early efforts to book the large meeting room for an all-staff celebration were unsuccessful. The room is unavailable until November.
“We appreciate that November is some way off,” said Graham Pritchard, Deputy Director of Corporate Workplace Services. “The room is in high demand. It is currently reserved for a workshop on reducing the number of workshops. We can offer the Agency a slot in the small meeting room on Thursday, capacity six, no screen.”
Asked whether the November booking would affect the Mars launch window, Mr Pritchard said that the two were “unrelated workstreams”. The launch window opens in late autumn. It closes for another 26 months shortly afterwards.
Notes to Editors
1. The UK Space Agency was established in 2010. It is now a team.
2. Media enquiries should be sent to the shared departmental inbox, which is monitored on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. The Agency’s logo has been retired. A replacement will be developed by a working group. The working group has not yet met, owing to the meeting room.
4. The shared printer is on the fourth floor. It is out of toner. Toner has been requested using the same cost-centre code as Mars.
5. The windows in the new office do not open. Staff wishing to look at the sky may submit a request to Facilities, who will log it.
6. This release was drafted in the stairwell, the only available space with a working socket and a view of the sky.
