Titania is in orbit: Britain's second military satellite joins the ISTARI constellation as ground sensor trials begin
The British-built satellite, launched last month and operated by UK Space Command, is intended to improve observation of military activity on Earth, while Project Inaros trials ground sensors in the UK, Australia and Cyprus to watch for threats to satellites.
Britain has a second military satellite in orbit. The Ministry of Defence confirmed on 7 November that Titania, a British-built satellite launched last month, is now in orbit and UK Space Command will operate it under the ISTARI programme. The department describes the spacecraft as a new pair of eyes in space, intended to improve the Armed Forces' ability to observe military activity on Earth and to coordinate their efforts on and above it.
Titania follows Tyche as the second satellite in the UK's growing military constellation. Like Tyche, it weighs around 100kg, about the size of a washing machine, and orbits the Earth every ninety minutes, travelling at twenty-seven thousand kilometres per hour. Under ISTARI, the Ministry of Defence is putting satellites and their supporting ground systems in place together, widening Britain's space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance reach, which it says gives British troops around the world an operational advantage.
The satellite was designed and built in Hampshire by a partnership of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and BAE Systems, under a contract worth £9.5 million. Two further satellites are to follow: Juno, with Surrey Satellite Technology, and Oberon, with Airbus Defence and Space. The Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “The new space age is here. Space underpins everything from weather forecasts and financial transactions to sat-navs and mobile phone connections, and it is critical for our national security and military operations.” He added: “Having Titania now in orbit and Project Inaros stepping up how we watch over our satellites means we can see threats sooner, making the UK safer.”
Having Titania now in orbit and Project Inaros stepping up how we watch over our satellites means we can see threats sooner, making the UK safer.Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Defence
Project Inaros, announced alongside the satellite, is a trial of ground-based sensors designed to watch what happens around Britain's satellites. It will trial three neuromorphic sensors, a technology that mimics biological processes by detecting changes in light, developed by the British Australian company Optera in partnership with the National Security Strategic Investment Fund. The sensors will operate from three sites around the world: the UK, Australia, and British facilities on the island of Cyprus.
The Ministry of Defence says the technology could be developed into an early warning system able to detect unusual or threatening activity close to UK satellites. What Inaros gathers will feed the work of UK Space Command units, including No. 1 Space Operations Squadron, No. 2 Space Warning Squadron and the new No. 3 Space Effects Squadron, which safeguard the satellites that guide British ships, connect mobile phones and warn of missile attacks. Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, the Chief of the Air Staff, called observing the Earth from space “critical to both national resilience and military advantage.”
The announcement sits inside a much larger funding settlement. Titania and Inaros form part of more than £3 billion committed by the Defence Investment Plan for space-based capabilities over the next four years, intended to protect British assets in orbit and strengthen deterrence on Earth; the Plan as a whole commits £298 billion of spending over the same period. The Ministry of Defence links both projects to the Strategic Defence Review's recognition that space is increasingly vital to national security and to daily life.
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