United Kingdom Space Command | |
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![]() UK Space Command badge | |
Founded | 1 April 2021 (3 years, 3 months) |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Role | Space Operations |
Part of | Royal Air Force |
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 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]
The structure of UK Space Command comprises:
No. | Commander | Term | Ref. | |||
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Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term length | ||
1 | Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey | 1 April 2021 | 12 May 2024 | 3 years, 266 days | [19] | |
2 | Major General Paul Tedman | 12 May 2024 | Incumbent | 70 days | [20] |
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 second independent air force in the world after the Finnish Air Force, 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 Fylingdales or more simply RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is Vigilamus. It is a radar base and is also part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS). As part of intelligence-sharing arrangements between the United States and United Kingdom, data collected at RAF Fylingdales are shared between the two countries. Its primary purpose is to give the British and US governments warning of an impending ballistic missile attack. A secondary role is the detection and tracking of orbiting objects; Fylingdales is part of the United States Space Surveillance Network. As well as its early-warning and space-tracking roles, Fylingdales has a third function – the Satellite Warning Service for the UK. It keeps track of spy satellites used by other countries, so that secret activities in the UK can be carried out when they are not overhead. The armed services, defence manufacturers and research organisations, including universities, take advantage of this facility.
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