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Britain Pledges Millions for Space Defense and New Satellites
Confirmed
In Short: The UK has unveiled a new space strategy to invest £7.8 billion over the next decade, focusing on military and national security.
Britain has unveiled a new space strategy to invest £7.8 billion over the next decade, focusing on military and national security. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds highlighted the importance of space for national security, stating, 'Our national security depends on our freedom of action in space and, if necessary, the ability to protect UK and allied space assets.
The strategy, which replaces the 2021 National Space Strategy, includes £3 billion to support military space capabilities and £880 million for space control and intelligence. This funding will support systems that monitor military activity on Earth and detect potential attacks against satellites. Additionally, £2.8 billion will go towards connectivity, including the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit and SKYNET defence communications programmes.
Space Domain Awareness, a core element of the plan, reflects concern about congestion and hostile activity in orbit. The government has allocated £149 million to the European Space Agency’s Vigil mission and £85 million to the National Space Operations Centre. Hanwha Aerospace is also expanding its defence offerings in Poland, presenting a layered air defence portfolio designed for threats ranging from small drones to long-range missiles.
According to reports, the strategy consolidates previously separate activities across defence, science, transport, and industry through 2030. The UK is also investing in new satellites, with the successful launch of the Roman Space telescope, which will study the effects of dark matter and provide insights into the universe's expansion.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- The measures include revised liability limits and waivers for certain in-orbit servicing and lunar missions launched before the end of 2030.
- Update: The Roman Space telescope was successfully launched and is on its way to its operating location at L2.
- From the vantage point of L2, Roman will study the effects of dark matter, the mysterious substance that pervades the universe, holds galaxies together and accounts for most of the mass in the cosmos, acting as a brake on the expansion of space itself, which is carrying galaxies farther and farther apart.
- When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, estimates for the age of the universe, from its Big Bang birth to the present, ranged from 10 billion years or so to 20 billion years.