UK told to ignore space threat at its peril

THE UK is “delusional” about the Russian and Chinese space threat and must “redouble its efforts” to protect itself, MPS have been warned.

Dr Rob Johnson, defence expert at the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, said the UK and the US needed to accept the “age has already past” where space would remain “pristine” and “unmilitarised like the Arctic”, and said the UK was “deluding itself ” if it believed it would remain peaceful.

While space is international, signatories agree to a set of protocols prescribed by the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. The UN Register of

Objects in Space dates back to 1962 as a mechanism to aid peaceful uses in space.

The Telegraph revealed last August that the UK was consulting with other countries on an initiative called reducing space threats through responsible behaviours, which would seek to increase knowledge of space threats while reducing the risk of conflict through miscalculation of distance around satellites, in order to avoid collisions.

But Dr Johnson hailed the fact that as of September 2020, China had completed its own satellite navigation system, which meant it no longer required American GPS, as “an absolute gamechanger”. He told the defence select committee: “I really hope the UK realises how serious that is. What it means is China has the ability to manoeuvre space vehicles, as has Russia, that could easily interdict Western space assets.”

He said this could be done “either by electronic means or physical means”.

“I would urge a redoubling of efforts by the United Kingdom to examine how we protect ourselves from space.”

His comments come ahead of the highly anticipated defence review, which is expected to have a strong focus on cyber and space. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, previously wrote in The Telegraph that as Russia and China are developing offensive space weapons “such behaviour only underlines the importance of the (defence) review”.