SPACE Defence Space Conference Report

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​UK sets eyes on defence space

From a budget black hole to blast-off – UK ambition for its role as global space power rockets skywards. TIM ROBINSON FRAeS reports from the 2020 MoD Defence Space virtual conference.

Taking place on 17-18 of November, the MoD Defence Space Conference 2020 was, as might be expected, a virtual gathering, rather than a physical one. However, this allowed some 635 delegates from around the world to dial in, and this number was doubled during the International Space Pitch Day session, more of which below.

Over the two days the sessions ranged from high-level strategic doctrine, to discussions on orbital manufacturing, from space diplomacy, to diversity and inclusion, with 45 speakers and panelists that ran the gamut from the Secretary of State for Defence, the Chief of Air Staff and Commander UK Strategic Command, to a RN Sub Lieutenant and junior officers – as well as industry executives and scientists. The virtual event, organised by the UK’s Air & Space Power Association saw a very strong international presence – with presentations from the General John ‘Jay’ Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, US Space Force, General Michel Friedling, Space Commander French Air & Space Force and Mircea Geoanà, Deputy Secretary General, NATO.

Let’s take a look though at some of the highlights.

Left: Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston laid out the challenges in space and what the UK intends to do about them. Right: The day after the conference saw British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announce a significant boost to the defence budget – including the creation of Space Command. Crown copyright/No 10

The next war – won or lost in space? ​

Giving one of the keynote addresses was RAF Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, who laid out in stark terms the scale of the emerging threat that runs from cascading space debris to cyber. All of these have the potential to damage, disrupt or create havoc with the spacebased critical infrastructure that governs our everyday lives and which the majority of us are oblivious to. In his address, Wigston pointed the finger firmly at Russia and China in developing new anti-satellite capabilities, conducting suspect proximity operations and generally putting other space users at risk through irresponsible behaviour – a view repeated by SoS Defence, Ben Wallace MP who said: “our adversaries are increasingly seeking to weaponise space.”

With words that no doubt reverberated with previous RAF chiefs’ thoughts on air power, Wigston said: “a future conflict may not start in space. However, I am in no doubt it will transition very quickly to space and it may even be won or lost in space.”

Defence gets a £16.5bn boost

The big breaking news during the conference was that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP had succeeded in convincing the Prime Minister Boris Johnson (against reportedly the Treasury’s wishes) of the need, not only to exclude the MoD from planned cuts in the aftermath of Covid-19 but also actually, to increase defence spending in the biggest increase in 30 years, with £16.5bn over the next four years. Announcing the increase later in the week, the PM singled out space as one of the beneficiaries of this funding increase, with a new Space Command and the goal of launching a UK satellite from UK soil in Scotland in 2022. In conjunction with the UK Space Agency, the UK is also set to create a National Space Operations Capability.

These moves have not come out of nowhere but build on a growing ambition for the UK to adopt a more defence-orientated view, given the increased dependence on space, and the challenges from both the environment and rogue actors.

While military and civil space concerns are closely linked (space debris and space weather for example), the UK is now aiming to rebalance the civil/defence mix and grow its own cadre of military space professionals – while still deepening its co-operation with commercial space industry and international partners. For example, while the MoD ordered a new Skynet 6A communications satellite, it will bring operating Skynet in-house, rather than contracting it out as before. Recruiting, training and growing this core of military space professionals is not only important for UK space operations, but also in being able to contribute personnel to coalition and allied space initiatives, such as US-led Operation Olympic Defender and Schriever space wargames.

At the conference, ACM Wigston also revealed the existence of a new space domain awareness information system, Aurora, being jointly developed by the RAF and the UK Space Agency. Aurora will “significantly enrich our space situational awareness,” said Wigston.

Take me to your leader, please?

The formation of a UK Space Command is thus a welcome step to making the lines of UK military space responsibility clearer should, for instance, ‘little green men’ touch down on Horsell Common. Previously, this was split between Strategic Command (exploitation of space) and the RAF (space awareness and surveillance) – and, although PM Johnson mentioned ‘RAF Space Command’, AEROSPACE understands that ‘Space Command’ will be a ‘joint unit based at an RAF station’, rather than, say the French model, where the Armée de l’Air is now officially an air and space force.

Also missing from the conference was the publication of the long-awaited UK Defence Space Strategy, which has been lost in a doctrine black hole in MoD since 2018. Instead, a UK National Space Strategy, which covers both military and civil space sectors, is set to be published first – with the MoD working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and a new National Space Council.

There is also the matter of the delayed UK Integrated Review (IR) itself, which is now set to appear in early 2021. Despite assurances that this defence review would be strategy-led, some observers have already noted that, by the government announcing the funding boost now, it is effectively putting the cart before the horse and makes this once again, a resource-led strategic review.

Dragon’s Den ​

Taking its cue from popular reality TV formats like Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank and the Silicon Valley tech culture of fast-moving pitches, the conference also featured a US/UK search for global space innovation for military users – in the first-ever International Space Pitch Day – a collaboration between DSTL, DASA, US Space Force, Starburst Accelerator and others.

Top: If you do spot a Vogon Construction Fleet or rogue Russian Goldeneye satellite – who do you call? Lower: Dr Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the US Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, introduced the Dragon’s Den style pitches. Crown copyright/RAFIntroduced by USAF acquisition chief Dr Will Roper this saw 15 teams with entries around the world from India to Canada compete for a slice of £800,000 in prize money. The teams pitched ideas that ranged from better predictions of space weather, to secure sharing of data, to slick graphical user interfaces and synthetic environments to train space operators. The format saw the teams present their pitches in quick-fire video format, with strict time limits and a couple of quick questions from the judges at the end.

What was noteworthy in these pitches is that none of these space pitches involved hardware, such as new rocket engines, satellites or heatshield tiles. Instead, they were concerned with collating, verifying, sorting and speeding up the secure dissemination of vast amounts of data to those ‘warfighters’ and commanders that need to know, right now, whether a solar flare or satellite conjunction will affect their combat operations on land, sea or in the air.

In the end, ten teams split the $1m prize between them and the positive response from this years International Space Pitch Day means that it is highly likely that it will return, bigger, better and even more international in a future event.

Recruiting the next generation of ‘Jedi Knights’ ​

Another noticeable aspect from the conference, was how young and diverse many of the speakers were – whether they were military officers or ‘new space’ entrepreneurs excited by the seemingly limitless possibilities of space.

This fast-moving sector, much like the pioneering dawn of aviation, is thus attracting some of the brightest young minds – however there is an intense battle going on for talent where military space is just one player. Anita Bernie, Strategy & Business Execution, KISPE Space and RAF Grp Capt Reservist, noted that a useful question to tease out the real problems of attracting a more diverse workforce is not to ask candidates: ‘What attracts you to this profession’ but ‘What makes you think twice about a career in defence?’.

To attract these new ‘Jedi Knights’ to work in defence-related space roles, the conference heard that the defence sector still needs to up its game on diversity and inclusion. Its competitors for global talent are not just other armed service branches but software and tech firms, as well as exciting ‘new space’ start-ups like SpaceX or Blue Origin that can exert an irresistible pull for talent. As Professor Anu Ojha, Director National Space Academy, argued about D&I: “This is not about being woke or PC: this is about deepening the talent pool at a time of rapid change and fierce competition.”

Taming the space ‘Wild West’ ​

The conference also saw much discussion and debate on what sort of emerging space power the UK is. Costs and barriers to entry are falling rapidly – opening up new opportunities but also new challenges.

The question is then, what sort of space power does the UK aspire to be? One potential demonstration of the UK’s role was provided in the conference when Samatha Jobs, Director for Defence and International Security, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), gave an insight into the behind-the-scenes diplomatic effort the UK had put into sponsoring a UN resolution to encourage responsible behaviour in space. This saw virtual meetings, lobbying and presentations, which resulted in the Resolution being passed 150 to 12 on 6 November – a major diplomatic triumph for the UK and one that has gone somewhat under the radar in terms of wider recognition of the growing confidence of Britain in international space circles. However, Jobs noted that not all countries were in favour of this and a minority (the usual suspects) rather liked the current ‘Wild West’ of orbital lawlessness.

KISPE’s Anita Bernie, who also pitched in the Pitch Day, is also a reservist RAF officer and an example of the diverse talent that space is now attracting. The French space sector is now studying Reaction Engines’ air breathing rocket technology under the Hyperstar project. Reaction Engines

This was backed up by Director UK Space, Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth who said: “We are witnessing countries like Russia push the boundaries of acceptable norms and behaviours”. While the FCDO lobbied behind the scenes at the UN, earlier this year Smyth and his US counterpart issued a rare public rebuke to Russia over suspected anti-satellite testing.