Lord Heseltine: "You’re just playing in toy town”

Lord Heseltine tells the story of the birth of the European Space Agency. Why post-Apollo, when the US was spending £1.2 billion a year on space, the whole of Europe was spending just £200 million. Why the birth of ESA was driven by the self-interest of three major countries. Why the US general with a $29 billion budget for the Star Wars project wanted to invest in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Why, the idea that Britain could compete alone with the technologies that were accumulated and available to the American capitalist system was “simply laughable”. Why “being European is not selling out British interests”. And why Margaret Thatcher told him: “If you want to get on and put your budget into this, you can, but you're not getting any of mine."

Join Alice and Lord Heseltine as they pick apart the negotiating contrivances and the wheeling and dealing to circumnavigate “turkeys not voting for Christmas” that ultimately put European space on the map.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Lord Heseltine, Member of the House of Lords

Key topics covered:

Creation of the European Space Agency (ESA)
US "Star Wars" program and brain drain
Geopolitical case for European R&D collaboration
Impact of Brexit on science and technology

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(135)

Episode 125: Conflict avoidance and new opportunities

After years of waiting, UK infrastructure agency NISTA looks set to establish a Conflict Avoidance Forum. But what will the industry think? Is it too late, and will parties want to engage with the pro...

17 Jun 26min

Episode 124: Tackling the PFI backlash

As the national media warn of the 'return of PFI', the team take a look at what's happening behind the scenes and how the narrative can be countered.They consider:Has the government finally kicked int...

10 Jun 11min

Episode 123: IML’s Steve Cooper reflects on the UK PPP industry

IML chief executive Steve Cooper speaks to Paul Jarvis about his first 18 months in the role and reflects on the threats and opportunities in the current UK market.He discusses:IML’s experience of han...

3 Jun 20min

Episode 122: Phil Washington on expanding the P3 opportunity

Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington outlines the airport’s pipeline of projects, as well as considering the wider P3 market.He talks to Jonathan Davies about:The ambition of Vision 100 - ...

28 Mai 26min

Episode 121: MDOT’s Jaclyn Hartman

Jaclyn Hartman, assistant secretary for transportation investments, speaks to Jonathan Davies about the current opportunity for investment and the climate in the US P3 marketThey consider:P3 projects ...

21 Mai 19min

Episode 120: Reflecting on the Partnerships Awards

Once again, the biggest night in PPP delivered an insight into the projects, people and organisations that are shaping the future of the industry. The team reflect on the evening, and discuss some of ...

6 Mai 19min

Episode 119: Water and Defence

With water infrastructure in increasing demand for a variety of reasons, the team discuss where PPP is playing a role, before moving on to look at how different nations are using the model to support ...

22 Apr 23min