A presentation by Dr Mike Willis at the RUSI Assuring Access to Space Conference, 13 July 2016

1. http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
UK Policy Perspective
Space Security supporting Growth & Innovation
Mike Willis
Security & Spectrum Policy
London – July 2016
making the UK the Place for Space

2. A Vision of Space

3. But – Space Delivers Services

4. Drivers and trends for change in the next 10/15 years
Space is now a critical dependency for many systems
– space technology will become a commodity,
– many more embedded dependencies on space services
– regulation of assets, data security will be critical and more complex
– Standards (e.g. spectrum, deorbiting) important to sustain growth
The UK Spaceport will be operational
– an enabler of low cost access to space
– new opportunities, space tourism
– a developing low earth orbit economy of large constellations
– global telecoms,
– real time, high resolution earth observation

5. Drivers and trends for change in the next 10/15 years
Orbits will become more congested
– Tensions between science, military and commercial use of resource
– Debris will need a solution, collisions undesirable
– Only 6% of catalogued objects are operational satellites
Kinetic Energy (E = ½ mv2)
Large car @ 70mph 1 MJ
Cubesat @ 7km/s ~25MJ

6. Government Approach
• To make the United Kingdom more
resilient to the risk of disruption to
space services and capabilities,
including from space weather
• To enhance the United Kingdom’s
national security interests through
space
• To promote a safe and more secure
space environment
• To enable industry and academia
to exploit science and grasp
commercial opportunities in
support of national space security
interests

7. National Resilience
Critical
Infrastructure
National
Monitoring
International
Collaboration

8. Coherent Policy Framework
National
Space Policy
(Cross
Whitehall)
Civil Space
Strategy
(UKSA/BIS)
Innovation
and Growth
Strategy
National
Space Security
Policy
(BIS/Cabinet
Office/MOD)
Enduring principles:
roles and responsibilities
Civil/military
coherence
Space Growth
Partnership
A Secure and
Prosperous UK

9. Regulatory Framework
UN Treaties
• Outer Space Treaty – Exploration &
use of space (incl Moon & celestial
bodies)
• Rescue Agreement – Rescue &
Return of Astronauts & Objects
• Liability Convention – When things
go wrong
• Registration Convention
• Activities on the Moon & Other
Celestial Bodies
UK Framework
• Launching or procuring the launch
of a space object
• Operating a Space Object
• Any Activity in Outer Space
Protects;
• Public Health, Safety & Property
• International Obligations
• National Security

10. Regulation – A Powerful Enabler
Future Work
• Simplified small Satellite Regime
• Considering insurance aggregation for
fleets & constellations
• Reviewing fees
• Developing Remote Sensing framework
Current Work
• Capped unlimited liability to
operators
• Removed Insurance Premium Tax –
Saving 6% on every premium
Congestion
charging
zone
All wavelengths
600 – 1200km
C

11. Environmental Protection
Objects >5cm
Space debris is an environmental
hazard and a threat to security, it
is covered by international law
Significant fuel costs in collision
avoidance manoeuvres
Severe space weather is
assessed as a relatively high
likelihood event, with a medium
to high relative impact on power
grids, aviation, spacecraft and
systems depending on space
services

12. Space Surveillance
Combined Space
Operations (CSpO)
• US
• UK
• Canada
• Australia
ESA SSA Radar Prototype
EU SST
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
Chilbolton Radar
ESA SSA Programme
• 18 ESA member states

13. Space weather
• Space weather forecasting
and alerts
– UK Met Office (MOSWOC)
working with US NOAA (SWPC)
• Technology & space segment
development
– ESA SSA Programme period 3?

14. SDSR 2015
• Ministerial Committee on security and prosperity & Publication
of National Space Policy
• Process to mitigate space weather impacts & international
partnerships to improve forecasting
• Increased global efforts to protect the space environment by
using civil and military capability and working with International
partners in US and Europe
• Recognise criticality of satellite navigation & need for enhanced
resilience – including military use of Galileo encrypted service
• Innovation & international collaboration in the field of resilient
satellite communications to support our Armed Forces

15. Space and Critical Infrastructure
• communications
• emergency services
• energy
• financial services
• food
• Government
• health
• transport
• water
• defence
• civil nuclear
• space
• chemicals
In 2015, space was designated as one of the 13 UK CNI
Sectors
Consequently, as for all CNI sectors, a sector security and
resilience plan (SSRP) needed to be developed
• UK Space Agency is responsible for space

16. Security and Resilience Planning
Sector resilience plans set out the resilience of the UK’s
most important infrastructure to the relevant risks
identified in the National Risk Assessment. They:
• Assess existing resilience
• Identify perceived vulnerabilities
• programme of measures to improve resilience
• Classified but the Cabinet Office summarises into an
overall sector resilience plan for critical infrastructure
Resistance – Physical protection, Cyber etc.
Reliability – Operate under adverse conditions
Redundancy – Backup & having a plan B
Response and Recovery – Ability to recover

17. Summary – what we are doing
Space has become a normal contributor to our everyday
lives
– Space services are already delivering growth and have great future
potential
– We must exploit the opportunities, mitigate the threats
Key orbits are congested, access is contested
– Strategy and regulatory actions to assure access to orbital and
spectrum resource and to prevent the build up of space debris
– Work with international partners to monitor the space environment
Protecting space systems against natural and man-made
hazards
– Security and resilience planning
– Undertaking resilience assessments and promoting mitigation
– Promoting R&D to build resilience and improve awareness