Spectators gather around a replica rocket at Cornwall Airport Newquay to watch the first ever UK launch of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket
But although the abortive launch quickly brought those lofty ambitions back down to earth, Freeman’s resilience didn’t crash and burn at all. Citing JFK’s famous line that we do space projects “not because they are easy but because they are hard”, the minister was unabashed., setting out the Government’s “global science strategy”.
In what looks like a high stakes game of chicken, Freeman outlined a detailed alternative to the EU scheme with a hint that British patience was running out. “I think the EU will see we are committed to doing this. I think it’s more likely they’ll pick up the phone and say ‘come back in’.” Freeman highlighted pension fund reforms to better connect all these growing industries to the financial muscle of the City of London. He was very keen to stress global cooperation, but also that one benefit of Brexit would be to turn the UK into a “regulatory test bed” to make it easier for overseas firms to trial their technologies with less red tape.