Hurrah for Tim Peake - But We Must Cut the Red Tape that Stands Between Us and the Stars

Tim Peake, the first British astronaut for 20 years, blasted off this morning to dock with the ISS. Adam Afriyie MP, a former technology entrepreneur and Chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has said that we must make sure that Tim Peake is the first of many British astronauts.

In an article, published on the Telegraph, Adam Afriyie writes:

"The ISS represents a truly momentous international achievement. It is our first permanent outpost at the beginning of a pioneering quest both to understand and ultimately colonise the universe.

"Major Tim Peake must be the first of many pioneering British astronauts that continue our great history of academic discovery which opens up new avenues of commercial benefit for the rest of us.

"Only by unleashing private enterprise in space can Britain take the place it deserves in humanity's quest to understand and colonise the universe."

To read the article in full on the Telegraph website, click here.

To read the POSTnote on the future of space commerce, click here.