To boldly go...

[Flugplatz]

RAF "pivoting" to space Virgin Orbit and project Artemis (http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/07/18/uk-defence-minister-praises-virgin-orbit-vows-to-strengthen-space-capabilities/) : well overdue or unnecessary extravagance? in any event looks like one lucky pilot will be getting an interesting secondment :O

Flug

[Asturias56]

PR bollocks on both sides

[Flugplatz]

Maybe, although it looks like the manpower commitment is relatively low from what has been announced. Mind you, I could understand it if we actually had a few space-borne assets to defend other than just Skynet. There does seem to be a groundswell of opinion that modern small-sats can do a lot more than previous generations of LEO sats - so maybe it is economically viable

[ORAC]

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/07/18/uk-us-militaries-join-forces-to-keep-the-upper-hand-in-space/

UK, US militaries join forces to keep the upper hand in space

LONDON — Britain has joined forces with the United States in a coalition aimed at bolstering space defenses against hostile actions by rivals such as China and Russia, according to Britain’s defense secretary. In a second space-related tie-up, the two countries are partnering in a project to field a small-satellite demonstrator within a year, Penny Mordaunt told delegates at the Air and Space Power Conference in London on July 18.

Britain is the first international partner to formally sign up for what is a little-known, American-led coalition called Operation Olympic Defender aimed at strengthening allies’ abilities to deter hostile actions by rivals. Mordaunt said over the next 18 months that Britain will send eight personnel to the U.S. Combined Space Operations Center in California to support the operation.

Britain will join the U.S. and other international partners in a coalition formed to “strengthen deterrence against hostile actors in space and reduce the spread of debris in orbit,” she said. Mordaunt told the audience of air force chiefs and others that rivals were already “doing all they can to disrupt access to services” like global communications, intelligence, surveillance and navigation........

With “partnership” the name of the game, further evidence of Anglo-U.S. cooperation in space also came through Mordaunt’s announcement of a trans-Atlantic team of British and American personnel formed under the banner of Team Artemis to launch a constellation and undertake research into the military potential of small satellites. Industry is expected to be involved. More details of the program will likely be revealed at the Royal International Air Tattoo opening at Fairford air base, southwest England, on July 19.

Mordaunt said Britain will invest £30 million (U.S. $37 million) in Artemis. But Royal Air Force officers said the total amount of money available to the program would be significantly larger. The two allies are fast-tracking the development and hope to launch the demonstrator within 12 months.

For the most part, Britain dominates the small-satellite market, with the Airbus-owned company Surrey Satellite Technology alone accounting for 40 percent of the market share worldwide. Surrey Satellites developed the Carbonite 2 spacecraft (https://www.defensenews.com/c2-comms/satellites/2018/01/12/carbonite-2-satellite-enters-orbit-to-test-british-intel-gathering-capability/) to demonstrate the ability of small, low-orbit satellites to provide high-resolution, full-motion video and imagery in color.

Carbonite 2 was launched on board the Indian PSLV rocket. The Artemis spacecraft, however, is likely to be launched from a dedicated small-satellite launcher able to demonstrate speed of response required to deploy the spacecraft in low orbit (https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2019/07/17/are-leo-satellites-approaching-a-breaking-point-for-the-pentagon/). The government didn’t directly address the issue of launch, but Mordaunt’s announcement that an RAF test pilot has been seconded to work on Virgin Orbit’s small-satellite launch program seems to indicate the direction of travel.

Virgin’s LauncherOne rocket was recently successfully launched from under the wing of a 747 aircraft over the Mojave desert, opening the way for the company to deploy commercial payloads. The company is considering using an airfield in Newquay, western England, as a spaceport to operate the 747 launch service.

The head of the Royal Air Force, who is about to step down from the job, announced the service is reforming 23 Sqn as a space squadron responsible for day-to-day space command and control, including the flying of satellites and coordination with allies.

While Mordaunt lifted the lid on some space thinking this week, industry executives and others are still awaiting the release of the MoD’s defense space strategy, which has been repeatedly postponed. It’s the key document detailing how Britain intends to develop its approach to space in the decade ahead. Although now heavily revised, it’s been awaiting publication for well over a year. The last plan to publish in May was scuttled by the sacking of then-Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.

The latest from the MoD on publication came in the form of a written parliamentary answer last week: “Our strategic work on space has developed significantly and will play a key role in spending review decisions. We expect to publish later this year.”

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/virgin-orbit-partners-with-royal-air-force-for-responsive-launch-capability/

Virgin Orbit Partners with Royal Air Force for Responsive Launch Capability

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1265x818/image_9454a21211efff01b5eebf63b6abbbdfb73017a2.jpeg

[Mogwi]

I trust that he/she/them! will get staff travel with Virgin.��

[Flugplatz]

Yeah! and a free B747 type-rating thrown in!

[racedo]

PR bollocks on both sides

Kind of hard to disagree.

[Flugplatz]

Maybe they will want to re-think the project name "Artemis" due to the new US lunar programme