STORY
A new space awareness system has become operational to help protect UK satellites and the services that depend on them. The Ministry of Defence and UK Space Agency said the Borealis system will improve the UK’s ability to track objects in space, including debris and satellites that could threaten British assets.
The Government said the system has gone live six months ahead of schedule and will support the National Space Operations Centre by combining and analysing data from multiple sources. Ministers also released the first images from the UK’s Noctis-1 military telescope, including images of objects such as the International Space Station and military communications satellites.
Defence minister Luke Pollard (in photo) said space was now a contested domain and that protecting satellites was
important for both the economy and national security. The Government said nearly 20% of UK GDP is reliant on satellite services, including navigation, communications, money transfers and weather forecasting.