Inquiry launched to explore UK’s security and resilience in space

Commentators have suggested the UK could be vulnerable if it’s unable to protect the satellite infrastructure: weaknesses could be exploited by adversaries to disrupt key communications, transport or finance infrastructure, as well as impacting military operations. Further, the scale of the UK’s reliance on US systems has been highlighted.

Last year, a House of Commons Committee found that the UK had failed to turn its ambitions for the space sector into reality and also that the sector needed “clearer strategic direction”.

Range of topics

The new inquiry will address a range of topics, among them: 

*the scale of civilian and military dependencies on space and how well this is understood in contingency planning

*adversaries’ capabilities to disrupt the UK’s space-enabled systems and how this compares to UK defences

*the UK’s national resilience to handle moderate and severe disruption in space

*what actions and investments the Government and industry should prioritise to improve long-term resilience and deterrence

The full terms of reference are published on the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy’s website.

National and economic security

Matt Western, chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, said: “This isn’t the stuff of science fiction: the UK’s space resilience genuinely matters. The critical infrastructure that we rely on every day, from the trains we use to travel to work through to the banking apps on our phones are possible due to the capabilities we rely on in outer space.”  

Western continued: “Our adversaries could disrupt our economic and national security by targeting our space infrastructure. Are we doing enough to keep the UK safe from harm?”

Further, Western affirmed: “Our new inquiry will explore how vulnerable our space infrastructure is, what the Government is already doing to keep us resilient and what further investments it should be making.”