United Kingdom Space Command | |
---|---|
Founded | 1 April 2021 (3 years, 1 month) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Type | Joint space command |
Role | Space operations |
Headquarters | RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire |
Commanders | |
Commander | Major General Paul Tedman |
United Kingdom Space Command (UKSC) is a joint command of the British Armed Forces organised under the Royal Air Force, [1] [2] and staffed by personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and the British Civil Service. [3] The UKSC has three functions: space operations, space workforce generation, and space capability. [4]
UK Space Command was established on 1 April 2021, and from May 2024 is under the command of Major-General Paul Tedman. The new command has "responsibility for not just operations, but also generating, training and growing the force, and also owning the money and putting all the programmatic rigour into delivering new ... capabilities." [1] UKSC headquarters is at RAF High Wycombe co-located with Air Command. [5]
When fully operationally capable, UK Space Command will "provide command and control of all of Defence’s space capabilities, including [the] UK Space Operations Centre, Skynet (satellite) communications, RAF Fylingdales, and other enabling capabilities." [3] The command was initially planned to grow to about 650 personnel. [6]
In a March 2021 Defence Command Paper it was announced that part of the additional £1.4 billion allocated to support UK Space Command over the next decade would be used to develop a new Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) satellite capability, [7] [8] following on from the Carbonite-2 technology demonstrator launched in 2018. [9]
On 22 April 2021 it was announced that Air Commodore Mark Flewin was to become Head Operations, Plans & Training, United Kingdom Space Command, Royal Air Force High Wycombe in May 2021. [10]
As of 2021 Commodore David C. Moody (Engineering Branch, RN) was posted in as Head of Space Capability for UK Space Command. [11]
In February 2022, the first part of the Defence Space Strategy was published, which included the already announced extra investment of £1.4 billion over 10 years mostly for the development of the multi-satellite surveillance and intelligence ISTARI system. [12] The strategy announced that the UK would adopt an "international by design" approach, and is the first state to publicly join the U.S. led Operation Olympic Defender, enabling international sharing of space resources and the synchronisation of space efforts. The UK will strengthen relations with the Five Eyes intelligence partnership. [13]
Operational concept demonstrator satellites for the ISTARI system, with electro-optical sensors and onboard processing, are planned for launch in 2024, under project MINERVA. [14]
As of September 2021, the structure of UK Space Command comprised: [15]
Commanders have been:
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by merging the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established air superiority over Hermann Göring's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort.
Skynet is a family of military communications satellites, now operated by Babcock International on behalf of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD). They provide strategic and tactical communication services to the branches of the British Armed Forces, the British intelligence agencies, some UK government departments and agencies, and to allied governments. Since 2015 when Skynet coverage was extended eastward, and in conjunction with an Anik G1 satellite module over America, Skynet offers near global coverage.
Royal Air Force High Wycombe or more simply RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s. The station is also the headquarters of the European Air Group and the United Kingdom Space Command.
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The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The incumbent is the deputy to the Chief of the Air Staff. The post existed from 1918 to 1969, and from 2023 to present. The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, formerly the Deputy Commander Capability, is responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of all aspects of Royal Air Force capability, including people, equipment, infrastructure, and training. The appointee is a Member of the United Kingdom's Air Force Board as the Air Member for Personnel and Capability due to their position.
The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal Air Force research and testing organisation based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. It has a training branch nearby as a lodger unit of RAF Cranwell and other branches elsewhere, including at RAF High Wycombe, RAF Brize Norton, MoD Boscombe Down, and RAF Odiham.
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Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, is a senior Northern Irish Royal Air Force officer, who has been the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff since March 2024. Previously, he served as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group (2018–2020) and Air and Space Commander (2022–2024). Between February 2020 and August 2022, he took up the new post of Director Space, in the Ministry of Defence.
Air Vice-Marshal Ian W. Duguid, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, whose final post was as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group RAF, headquartered at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. Duguid was a Harrier pilot and Typhoon Force Commander before assuming the role of the Air Officer Commanding of No. 11 Group, which he served as from 2018 to November 2021.
This is the structure of the Royal Air Force, as of October 2020.
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Warrant Officer Murugesvaran Subramaniam, is a senior Royal Air Force non-commissioned officer, who currently serves as the Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force.