Overview
- This week the Ministry of Defence rebalanced its space portfolio under the Defence Investment Plan and committed £880 million this parliament to space control and space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
- The MoD has cancelled the planned Skynet 6 narrowband satellite and will extend the ageing Skynet 5 constellation while it assesses allied and commercial alternatives for narrowband services.
- Space control is defined by the plan as protecting friendly use of space and denying adversaries use, covering orbital surveillance, defence against jamming and cyber attack, and options to disrupt hostile systems.
- The reallocation shifts funding from legacy programmes, including retirement of the Shadow R1 aircraft and cancellation of the Meteor missile mid-life upgrade, creating near-term savings and industrial uncertainty.
- The plan raises longer-term questions about sovereign ownership, industrial capacity and sustained funding for UK space capabilities as Russian and Chinese counterspace activity continues to threaten satellites.