The UK Space Agency is to be streamlined and will no longer exist as an independent entity, according to the UK government.
It will instead be absorbed into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology by April 2026.
The government said the move is "part of the Plan for Change to cut red tape and make Whitehall more agile and efficient."
A new era for the UK in space?
The UK Space Agency came into being in April 2010, and throughout its existence it's seen the launch of British astronaut Tim Peake to the International Space Station, as well as contributed to key European missions like the Rosetta mission to land on a comet, and the Gaia mission to map the Milky Way.
From April 2026, the UK Space Agency will keep its name, but will become a unit within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
"In a major step to boost support for the UK’s space sector, the change will bring together the people who shape space policy and those who deliver it," a statement from the government said.
"This will cut any duplication that exists and ensure decisions are made with clear ministerial oversight."
But not everyone is convinced the move is in the best interests of the UK's space industry, which the government says generated £18.6bn in 2022/23.
Dr Simeon Barber of the Open University told BBC News: "around the world countries have been recognising the importance of space by setting up national space agencies, and for the government to be scrapping ours seems like a backward step."
