Launch of British military satellites to strengthen space power

The British military has launched its first dedicated Earth observation satellite.

The spacecraft, named Tyche, is the size of a washing machine and will have sufficient resolution to identify troop positions and vehicles on the battlefield.

It is a demonstrator that will be followed by a network of satellites with different sensors this decade.

Some of these future spacecraft will be able to see through clouds and even listen to radio transmissions.

Tyche’s flight into orbit was booked on a SpaceX Falcon rocket that launched from California, lifting off at 11:56 a.m. local time (7:56 p.m. BST).

The British mission will orbit the Earth at an altitude of about 500 kilometers and is expected to remain in operation there for at least five years.

The British armed forces have long benefited from the use of their own state-of-the-art satellite communications system. called SkynetBut gaining access to surveillance and reconnaissance imagery from space has largely required a friendly request to allies, particularly the United States.

And while the Ministry of Defense contributed funds Tyche has been used in the past for projects in the UK commercial sector and will be the first wholly owned imaging company.

The 160 kg satellite was commissioned by the UK Space Command and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in Guildford. It will collect its images at optical wavelengths – the same light that we see with our eyes.

It is designed to capture 5 km wide point scenes on the ground and has an optimal resolution of 90 cm.

This is by no means the best possible performance (some secret US satellites allegedly show features only 10 cm diameter), but it fits the general needs of the British military.

Tyche was born from a Space Command Paper 2021 and a Space Defense Strategy 2022which obliged the last government to £970 million over 10 years on a program called Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance, or ISTARI for short.

It outlined a series of initial research and development efforts with the ultimate goal of placing a sovereign constellation of military and national security satellites in orbit.

These spacecraft are designed to carry a range of technologies, including radar sensors that can scan the Earth’s surface in all weather conditions and at night – a capability that will be invaluable to Ukraine in tracking invading Russian forces.

“This is the start of a journey,” said Major General Paul Tedman, Commander of UK Space Command. “The Space Defence Strategy sets out how we will become a major space power by 2030.”

“We hope there will be many more satellite launches in the coming months and years. Tyche is definitely the beginning of that.”

SSTL has worked closely with UK Space Command on ISTARI and hopes to win further defence contracts at home and abroad.

“Many other countries are setting up space commands,” said Darren Jones, head of the manufacturer’s defense business.

“There is a great deal of interest in space capabilities for defense purposes around the world. This Tyche contract shows us that we have the confidence of the Department of Defense to be able to conduct such missions, which can only help us in the future as we work with other nations around the world.”

Tyche is based on the Carbonite modelwhich can be assembled quickly and relatively inexpensively (the Tyche contract is worth £22 million).

An interesting feature is its propulsion system, which maneuvers the satellite using water.

“The water is passed through an engine that heats it to create superheated steam. That’s how we generate thrust and hold position,” explained technical director Andrew Haslehurst.

“Tyche has ten liters on board. That’s enough for five to seven years of use in orbit.”

Shortly after the publication of the Defence Space Strategy, the then Defence Committee of the House of Commons criticised the UK for “at best a third-order space power”The UK is the only G8 country without its own satellite imaging capabilities.

The committee expressed particular concerns about ISTARI’s future prospects given the Department of Defense’s “poor track record of delivering major projects on time and on budget.”

In July, of course, a new government was elected, which immediately a thorough review of British defence needs and expenses.

With other countries stressing the growing importance of space in future conflicts, the latest British defence assessment is unlikely to follow a different course to the last. But policy experts would be watching developments closely, said Julia Balm, a research fellow at the Freeman Air and Space Institute at King’s College London.

“I think if there is anything negative about ISTARI, or there are cuts to things that have already been set out in strategies, then that is just an indication of the UK’s inability to deliver any long-term or large-scale projects. And it also does not send a good message about the UK’s commitment to growing as a space power,” she told BBC News.