Britain folded its civil, defense and national security space work into one plan on September 8 when it published a new UK Space Strategy backed by £7.8B through 2030. The document replaces the 2021 National Space Strategy and, for the first time, puts government space investment and activity on a single roadmap, according to the official announcement.
More than £3B of the money flows through the Defence Investment Plan. Dedicated lines include £880M for space control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, £2.8B for connectivity covering the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit program and the SKYNET military constellation, £85M for the National Space Operations Centre and £149M for ESA’s Vigil space weather mission. The government says it will also design a resilient, integrated national satellite communications system and start coordinating how departments buy space technology, beginning with satcom.
Orbit monitoring anchors the security push. The National Space Operations Centre already runs Borealis, space awareness software switched on in May that fuses tracking data on satellites, debris and threatening objects, with Britain’s Noctis-1 military telescope feeding imagery into the system. The monitoring targets range from debris and collisions to hostile maneuvers, and solar storm alerts are meant to protect the power, communications and navigation services that depend on satellites.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting tied the plan to freedom of action in orbit, saying Britain must be able to protect UK and allied space assets as threats there grow more sophisticated. The strategy also sets its sights on an industry worth £18.6B that supports more than 55,000 jobs.
