For the first time, the UK has a National Space Security Policy. According to the Government, it’s recognising that space-based capabilities support the provision of vital services for the UK.
Why? Partly, the economy. The space sector is worth over £9 billion to the British economy a year. Partly, so we can work with others, notably Europe and the United States. Partly, resilience. Without satellites, distribution and transport systems would be slower and less responsive, bringing risk of delays, shortages and bottlenecks which would damage the wider economy. The armed forces and security and emergency services would find it harder to co-ordinate and communicate with personnel or vehicles.
And partly, national security. According to the National Security Strategy, “severe disruption to information received, transmitted or collected by satellites” is a significant security risk for the UK.
In more detail, the document says more about what the risks are than what the Government proposes to do about them. It points out that use of Global Positioning System (GPS) is so common for utilities and private and public users (such as ambulances) that some users are losing familiarity with old methods of finding locations. The document says that cyber attack against commercial enterprises aimed at stealing technological expertise and other proprietary information is a growing risk. Jamming or spoofing of signals – signal interference – is becoming more common, for instance against BBC broadcasts. “Of equal concern is the relative ease with which signals from global navigation satellite systems, including GPS, can be interfered with. The received GPS signal is inherently weak, making it a target for criminals.”
Also raised are direct attacks on satellites (’risky and technically challenging’), space weather and space debris, which according to NASA has topped 16,000 pieces in Earth orbit.
As for what to do about all this, the document speaks of responsibility resting largely with owners and operators of space services or with infrastructure owners and operators.
For the 20-page report in full visit gov.uk.
