Tyche satellite: UK to boost space power with military launch

Shortly after the Defence Space Strategy was published, the then Commons Defence Select Committee criticised the UK for being, “at best, a third-rank space power”, external. Britain is the only G8 nation without a sovereign satellite imaging capability.

The committee raised specific concern for ISTARI’s future prospects, given the MoD’s “woeful track record in delivering major projects on time and to budget”.

A new government was elected in July, of course, and immediately initiated a root and branch review of UK defence, external needs and spending.

With other countries highlighting the growing importance of the space domain in future conflicts, it seems unlikely the latest UK defence assessment will tack a different course to the last one. But policy experts would be watching closely, said Julia Balm, research associate at the Freeman Air and Space Institute, King’s College London.

“I think if there’s anything negative on ISTARI or there are any cutbacks when it comes to things that have already been committed in strategies, then that’s just indicative of the UK’s inability to deliver any sort of long-term or large-scale project. And it also doesn’t really hold a good message about the UK being committed to growing as a space power,” she told BBC News.