asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contracts for new satellites have been placed by Her Majesty's Government in each of the past 10 years; with which companies; and for what total value.

In the past 10 years, three contracts, one in each of the years 1981, 1985 and 1986, have been placed by Her Majesty's Government for the supply of a total of five Skynet 4 military communications satellites: three (Skynet 4A, 4B and 4C) for the Ministry of Defence; two (NATO IVA and IVB) for NATO. All three contracts have been placed with British Aerospace with Marconi Space Systems as principal sub-contractor. The total value of the three contracts is some £200 million.