UK to launch new "game changing" spy satellites

British troops volition beryllium capable to look down connected the battlescape “at immoderate clip and done immoderate weather,” pursuing a caller £127m woody to complaint a caller outer system.

Set to motorboat successful 2027 Oberon volition boost the UK’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and heighten subject operations astir the globe, arsenic good arsenic assisting to tackle earthy disasters.

Boasting precocious imagery sensors, "game changing" Oberon volition physique connected the capabilities of Tyche, UK Space Command’s archetypal satellite, which was launched successful August past year.

Tyche, which is astir the size of a washing machine, has already returned astonishing imagery of strategical locations similar Heathrow Airport, Sydney and the California wildfires, demonstrating its quality to seizure imagery from anyplace connected world erstwhile our Armed Forces request it.

Built and designed successful the UK, Oberon volition enactment astir 200 skilled jobs successful Stevenage and Portsmouth, according to the MoD.

The woody volition spot Airbus enactment with a raft of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises crossed the UK to physique 2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, each weighing 400kg (880lbs) and susceptible of capturing time and night-time images of the Earth’s aboveground successful immoderate upwind conditions.

The antennas for the spacecraft volition beryllium supplied by Oxford Space Systems, which has developed c fibre structures that stow distant successful precise tiny volumes for motorboat but outpouring into signifier erstwhile successful orbit.

“Oberon, alongside Tyche and different satellites successful our ISTARI constellation, volition let america to observe what’s happening connected Earth from abstraction astatine immoderate clip and done immoderate weather,” said Major General Paul Tedman, UK Space Commander.

“This volition alteration and heighten UK and allied subject operations astir the world.”

Paul Russell, Space squad person astatine the MoD's Defence, Equipment and Support installation (DE&S) successful Bristol said: “With the grant of the Oberon contract, we volition present the adjacent successful a bid crippled changing capabilities to UK Space Command providing the UK subject with starring Space Based Synthetic Aperture Radar whilst helping to support our federation harmless and prosperous. “

Ben Bridge, Airbus Defence and Space UK Chairman, added:”Oberon’s satellites volition springiness the UK a much-needed sovereign capableness and greatly heighten its abstraction surveillance autonomy.

“These spacecraft volition play a captious relation successful keeping our Armed Forces harmless astir the world.”