Commander’s Update Briefing
In summer 2019, the Ministry of Defence outlined an ambitious space programme, including committing £30m to fast-track the launch of a small satellite demonstrator within a year. It’s just one indication of the growing importance of space to modern air forces, as Air Power Association President, Air Marshal (ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB CBE explains.
“The militarisation of space is already under way and the question is how far it will be allowed to evolve or become increasingly lethal, either through the attacking of each other’s systems or the weaponisation of space vehicles.”
The US Air Force’s secretive X-37B spaceplane lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, after spending a recordbreaking 26 months in orbit. The Orbital Test Vehicle, a reusable and unmanned spacecraft, has just completed its fifth mission. You might be forgiven for thinking the statement above is set in the future, but this actually happened last October. The Boeingdesigned X-37B was designed to last only 270 days aloft, yet it managed an incredible 780 days in orbit, and is set to launch on its sixth mission in 2020. Importantly, this is an unmanned vehicle, which may limit…
