Reading the Stars: Narrative Evidence for Space Strategy

Narrative evidence, often neglected, can inform future UK space policy and strategy. This report is designed for strategic decision makers, but will be of interest to a wide readership including researchers, technical experts, and practitioners. It identifies, synthesises, and presents narrative evidence on space drawn from a range of activities including expert assessment of policy issues, synthesis papers, a workshop, and narrative analyses, and is intended to be used as part of a plural,
innovative and novel evidence (PINE) base to drive the development of better space policies and strategies. As with any synthesis, the value lies in the selection of issues that has emerged from the process, and the attention paid to evidence that
may be known to some, but on the margins of current public reasoning. Incorporating these findings into today’s policy and strategy typically requires determination although for each reader there is, we hope, a moment of easy surprise or of changed recognition.