The UK Space Agency's new space strategy focuses on defence and national security at a time when nations are scrambling to harness satellite technology's wartime potential.
It’s no surprise, at a time when GNSS spoofing and asymmetrical warfare are common in Europe, that the defence sector looms large in the UK’s plans for space and satellite.
Of the £7.8 billion ($10.3 billion) of investment planned under the country’s space strategy by 2030, more than a third (£2.8 billion) will go on satellite communications.
£2.3 billion of that (82 per cent) will be used to deliver “military satellite communication services” to the UK armed forces, leaving substantially less investment for initiatives like low-Earth orbitNGSO, or non-geostationary satellite orbit… (LEO) satellite programmes and lunar telecommunications.
This could be a response to the UK’s lack of a secure government/military communications solution similar to Iris², the European Union’s long-anticipated and sometimes doubted satellite project, which is pressing on with backing from a consortium including SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat.
However, the EU has at times suggested that the former member state could get involved in Iris².
The strategy says at least £75 million ($99 million) will go on satellite communications for public services, “including procurement of low-Earth orbit (LEO) SatCom services for UK and overseas territory users”.
This is to strengthen the resilience of the emergency services network and to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on trains using a LEO solution.
While this is a fraction of what is being sought for military usage, it could generate meaningful economic benefits.
Similarly, £429 million will be going to the European Space Agency ARTES programme to develop satellite communication technologies and to its Moonlight programme, which aims to deliver Europe’s first dedicated lunar telecommunications constellation.
Perhaps most surprisingly, £75 million is earmarked for position, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions, including a new eLoran system and other technologies, to reduce the UK’s dependence on GNSSGlobal Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) … systems like the EU’s Galileo constellation.
Given the UK government’s claim that the loss of GNSS for a single day could result in £7.64 billion of financial loss in a week, is this not worth elevating to the level of lunar communications or military funding?
While defence has secured a significant slice of the satcom funding pie, one has to wonder if this will come at the expense of equally worthy satellite projects.
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Experts talk spectrum.
