Alan Strickland, Labour MP for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor, says the North East must make its voice heard as a decision looms that could bring military satellite production and thousands of jobs to County Durham.
Britain’s military satellites could be built here in County Durham if a crunch decision goes our way in the next few weeks.
It would see a world-class manufacturing facility in Sedgefield in my constituency, hundreds of new jobs for people across the region and give a major boost to the North East’s growing space industry.
But shy bairns get nowt, so I’ve used this space in The Northern Echo to call for industry leaders, businesses, councils and residents to make their voices heard.
Lots of work has already gone on to make the case, but in these crucial final stages we all need to make sure the benefits of this major investment coming to the North East are fully understood in Whitehall.
Other regions have been making a lot of noise in the press on this and it’s vital North Eastern voices are heard loud and clear.
Our region has long received very low levels of Ministry of Defence funding for industry.
If the Skynet defence satellite programme came to Sedgefield, it would be a key step in re-industrialising the North East, which remains one of the UK’s poorest regions and in need of more world-class employment opportunities.
At the heart of expanding high-tech, modern manufacturing in our area is the space industry, which I’ve been working hard to champion since my election in 2024.
Filtronic, which has plants in Sedgefield and the City of Durham, is a world leader in designing and manufacturing satellite ground stations and other space technology.
The Octric semiconductor factory in Aycliffe, which I successfully campaigned to have nationalised by defence ministers, manufactures electronic chips used in fighter jets and in satellite technology.
I’ve been proud to visit both of these facilities several times and been hugely impressed by the cutting edge work they’re doing and the apprenticeships they are supporting to expand local opportunity.
We have real strengths in space research, development and engineering here on our doorstep.
But we lack a major national and global company which can really put the area on the map, bring major new investment and attract a large cluster of other space businesses.
That’s where the proposal from Lockheed Martin UK comes in.
They’re one of the two final bidders for the Skynet defence satellite programme run by the Ministry of Defence.
These are the secure satellites which our armed forces use to send highly classified messages around the globe as part of their day-to-day operations.
As North East MPs we’ve been working with the North East Mayor to champion the benefits of this proposal, so government understands what a game-changer this would be for my constituency and the whole region.
It would secure a state-of-the-art £85m satellite facility at NETPark in Sedgefield, 500 skilled jobs in the plant and around 2,000 jobs in businesses through the supply chain.
But more than that, it would build the North East’s reputation as a global leader in space technology, which will encourage other world-class companies to open a base here.
And it would expand the opportunities for the hundreds of smaller local firms who supply components and services to this industry.
The plan also deserves strong regional backing because of the huge benefit to local skills, apprenticeships and training opportunities.
Lockheed Martin UK have already invested £15m into a new North East Space Skills and Technology centre at Northumbria University, alongside funding from the UK Space Agency.
This means the region is ready to train up a new generation of young people to be space engineers, with the skills to work in this plant and the other space businesses across the region.
It also creates a great opportunity for those already working in engineering and manufacturing to re-train, to transfer their existing skills and move into the growing space sector.
The North East’s strong traditions of industrial design, innovation and advanced manufacturing all make us the ideal region to grow the UK satellite industry.
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And at a time when the threats to national security are high, it’s vital we have the very best defence technology in space to protect us.
I can think of no better region to build this next generation of military satellites than ours.
I’ll be raising this again in Parliament over the coming days – make your voice heard too.
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