Space in Parliament | 12.5.23
Lords question role of Starlink in Ukraine | Seraphim and UKSA team up | Paul Bate's message for MPs | National Satellite Test Facility | Satellite merger approved | +more
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1. Lords question role of Musk and Starlink in Ukraine
Yesterday, Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London, gave evidence to the House of Lords inquiry into AI in weapons systems.
Sir Lawrence argued against technological-determinist theories of war. He pointed out that in Ukraine we have seen low-tech, almost hand-to-hand trench combat, at the same time as we have seen high-tech satellite-directed intelligence and weaponry.
He summarised this “both-and” approach to understanding the role of technology in war as “the layered nature of warfare”.
This prompted Labour peer Lord Mitchell to ask about the role of Elon Musk and Starlink in that war.
Lord Mitchell was concerned that Musk, as a private businessman providing essential technology through Starlink, was able to develop his own foreign policy, which Government’s would have to rely upon.
I reported on this point two weeks ago, when the Scottish Affairs Committee took evidence from Dr Adam Bower, who spoke about state dependence on private companies, and asked what would happen if SpaceX pulled Starlink out of Ukraine.
Sir Lawrence said that this was an important issue but not new: big companies developing the technology needed for war had been an issue since the 1990s.
He noted that SpaceX had limited the Ukrainians’ ability to use Starlink for weaponised drones, and that at one point Musk had wanted to withdraw Starlink altogether — it took “complex negotiations” to keep him onboard.
This demonstrates, Sir Lawrence told the Committee, how private companies — perhaps other space companies besides SpaceX — will become subjects in complex negotiations around future wars.
He added that while some tech companies had been reticent to take military and government contracts, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had reversed that trend.
This suggests space companies will need to become increasingly politically savvy.
2. Seraphim Space and UK Space Agency team up for space sector webinar
Yesterday, Seraphim Space, the LSE-listed space investment fund, and the UK Space Agency, co-hosted a webinar entitled, “Why Space, Why UK, Why Now”.
After some technical glitches, an interesting discussion got underway between Seraphim CEO Mark Boggett and UKSA CEO Dr Paul Bate.
Both of them championed the “maturing” UK space sector. It was interesting to hear from Boggett’s statistics just how big a difference OneWeb makes to the UK’s space investment landscape.
They both identified insufficient launch capacity as a challenge for the UK space sector.
Dr Bate said the space sector had an incredible opportunity to show its use value to sectors such as insurance and agriculture, beyond traditional space applications, adding that space was more of a “domain” than a “sector”.
Mark Boggett said that companies using satellite data only as part of their proposition, particular environmental uses, were attracting a lot of investment, citing BeZero Carbon as an example.
There has been a revolution in the space market, Boggett said, with low-cost launch enabling a “digital infrastructure in the sky”. He highlighted the opportunities this would bring for surveillance, citing Satellite Vu, a UK company developing infrared high-resolution thermal imaging from space — their first satellite is due to launch next month.
While the primary application is to monitor ecological damage, Boggett already began to enumerate other types of surveillance uses that would make any civil liberties advocate anxious.
Despite those uncertainties, Boggett proclaimed, “Space has the potential to save humanity.”
The discussion concluded on the future lunar economy, which, Boggett said, has been put back on the agenda by the Artemis Accords. Dr Bate was confident that Artemis III would put people on the moon in 2025 (I’m not so sure that will be on time) and that the UK would be at “the front of the lunar economy”.
3. UKSA CEO wants MPs to “ramp up” investment in the space sector
During the webinar, I had the opportunity to ask Dr Bate what he would want to tell MPs about the space industry.
Dr Bate said he would highlight how the opportunities extend beyond traditional space uses to all kinds of sectors, but we need to keep investing if we are going to make the most of the opportunity.
He said the UK operates on two or three times less investment than our peers. MPs should know that this issue cannot be kicked down the road — “this decade will determine what happens” — so it is important for the Government to “ramp up” support.
Despite that call, he praised the UK space sector for being configured in an “open commercial way”, without being too institutional.
Responding to a question on the skills gap in the space sector, Dr Bate said that, while Government had a role to play, industry had to pull its weight, too.
Mark Boggett added that the UK has a wealth of talent in data scientists, which is attracting employers to the UK, as AI becomes more important for space applications.
Dr Bate talked about the UKSA’s commitment to the European Space Agency and praised the UK’s regulatory framework, which he said was successfully tested by the Virgin Orbit launch attempt in January — even if the actual launch failed, the licensing worked.
There are ongoing consultations regarding liability limits, which will adjust the existing regulatory framework, in which the UKSA is seeking a balance between safety and agility.
4. UK’s largest satellite testing facility welcomes first customers
On Monday, representatives of Airbus Defence and Space UK met at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) to sign the contract to become the first users of the the National Satellite Test Facility (NSTF), the UK’s £116 million centre for testing large, next-generation satellites.
The first satellite to be tested at NSTF will be Skynet 6A, the latest payload in the UK Ministry of Defence secure military communication programme.
Currently under construction at Airbus, the satellite is due to launch in 2025 aboard Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The cathedral-sized facility, developed with funding from UK Research and Innovation, will allow companies to test whether their satellites can withstand the brutal conditions of space travel.
It features the UK’s largest vacuum test chamber, where satellites the size of a double-decker bus will be exposed to an array of extreme conditions.
Ian Annett, Deputy CEO at the UK Space Agency, said the new facility would “catalyse investment” in UK space.
5. Satellite merger approved after competition probe
The merger between two satellite companies, Viasat and Inmarsat, was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority on Monday.
Both Viasat and Inmarsat supply businesses globally with satellite connectivity that enables services such as the internet, email, and video calling – including for use on aircraft.
Regulators were concerned that, given the similarity between the two companies, specifically in the supply of satellite connectivity for wifi on flights, the merger would reduce competition in the market.
However, they concluded that the deal does not substantially reduce competition for services provided on flights used by UK customers because the satellite sector is expanding rapidly due to increased demand for satellite connectivity.
Several new entrants into the satellite communications sector to offer connectivity services for aircraft, including Starlink, operated by SpaceX, which secured its first contract with a European airline (airBaltic).
Panasonic and Intelsat — also competing in the same area — have signed agreements with recent entrant OneWeb, partly owned by the UK Government, which completed its global satellite constellation last month, allowing them to use OneWeb satellites to enhance their own offerings to airlines.
6. Surrey Satellite Technology Limited and Oxford Space Systems team up on “knitted satellite” CarbSar
The British space companies SSTL and OSS will launch CarbSar satellite next year.
CarbSar will use synthetic aperture radar imagery, which “is not subject to favourable solar illumination or weather conditions” — that is, it can see through clouds and at night — and “can provide diverse surveillance intelligence like optical images”.
Britain is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council without its own radar satellite system.
The work has received joint funding from OSS, SSTL, Airbus Defence and Space, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund, and the MoD.
The satellite features the novel OSS radar antenna — a knitted tungsten wire mesh that's folded tightly for launch but which will spring out once in orbit to form a large umbrella-like shape.
SSTL and OSS hope their CarbSar pathfinder will put them in a strong position to win future contracts to supply operational spacecraft to the UK government for both civil and military applications.
7. Construction begins at UK mainland's first vertical launch spaceport
Last Friday, Orbex announced that construction had begun at Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland — the first vertical launch spaceport to be built on the UK mainland.
Orbex is a UK-based spaceflight company with headquarters, production and testing facilities in Scotland, and design and testing facilities in Denmark. Sutherland will be its “home” spaceport.
Orbex plans to use the site to launch up to 12 orbital rockets per year for the deployment of satellites into Earth's orbit.
Representatives from the Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Melness Crofters Estate and UKSA attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
Sutherland Spaceport is intended to become the first carbon-neutral spaceport in the world, both in its construction and its operation, for example by reusing peat lifted during the construction to repair large areas of peatland that have degraded over centuries (all that whisky?).
The spaceport in Sutherland is expected to support around 250 new employment opportunities in the Highlands and Islands over the coming years, including 40 jobs in Sutherland and Caithness.
Economic impact assessments commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise conclude that the presence of the spaceport has the potential to generate almost £1 billion in gross value added for the Highlands and Islands economy over the next 30 years.
Objects in outer orbit: Crashing space SPACs, When the heavens went on sale, Space Force, Ukraine, Mars and a “lunic” poem
Space companies launched through SPACs are crashing — and it’s not just Virgin Orbit — according to an opinion piece by Edward Hearst. High cost of capital due to rising interest rates, the decline of SPACs, the drying up of venture capital and Government red tape is creating a tough environment. Hearst warns of America losing its technological edge over China — which is developing its own space sector fast — and calls on the US Government to act fast to help the industry.
When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach is the new book just out from Ashlee Vance, biographer of Elon Musk. Space.com has an interesting interview with the author, who says: “It really gets into the changing nature of geopolitics around all this, and the chaos that's about to ensue”.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said at a recent congressional hearing that the Space Force is requesting $340 million in its 2024 budget for an “operational testing and training infrastructure.” Space News reports the programme will be called National Space Test and Training Complex and officials will brief space industry companies about it next month.
At the 15th Australian Space Forum this week, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia, spoke about collaboration between the two countries in the space sector, in the context of Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.
The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting long-read out this week on the problems facing the European Space Agency’s ExoMars programme.
Ellis Hillman was a unique man. A member of the Science Fiction Foundation and the Flat Earth Society, he was also a revolutionary Trotskyist who had to be home on Fridays in time for the Sabbath! He apparently composed the following stanza to accompany Three Lunar Voyages by F. A. Ridley (with apologies to Lewis Carroll):
The Moon
Twas lunic, and the empty scapes Did shriek as if to pierce the fasty black, Intanjubble were the moooving shapes And the volo-henges formed a vasty pack.
