The ability to track an object in space the size of a Rubik’s Cube or identify the threat of deadly satellite debris is to be vastly improved by a UK project to build a battery of telescopes across its overseas territories.
With 14 small territories around the world, Britain is moving forward with a project to mount a unique surveillance platform. The UK Space Agency’s deputy launch director, Matt Archer, told The National the network will have a reach independent of America.
The first phase in the £40 million ($54.5 million) project is to establish three telescopes on the western Atlantic island of Bermuda, about 1,100km off the US coast, that will be able to spot asteroids or rogue satellites heading towards Earth.
Britain then plans to construct a network of telescopic eyes peering into the cosmos by placing them on territories in regions such as the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific.
“If you imagine Earth as a ball looking outward, you can only see so much of space at any one time,” Mr Archer said. “Our overseas territories are a great advantage to us in being able to provide round-the-clock visibility of space. That also makes us less reliant on the Americans.”
King’s telescope
The space agency is initially looking to use 13 "optical detection sites" across five territories, as part of the £40 million Project Nova, which will enable it to monitor satellites, space debris and give “planetary protection” from asteroids and comets.
The telescopes are powerful enough to see objects smaller than a Rubik’s Cube in low Earth orbit, enhancing the UK’s ability to ensure “planetary protection” by giving critical alerts for falling space debris.
Britain's King Charles III visited the Bermuda telescope site on Friday. “This is significant for the king as part of his Astra Carta initiative, ensuring we treat the environment, whether that's on Earth or in space, with appropriate sustainability,” Mr Archer said.
The construction is led by Slingshot Aerospace, which will partner with Baader Planetarium to equip each site with its autonomous AllSky Domes.
Space collision
When Mr Archer first joined the space agency in 2018, there were a little more than 1,000 satellites. Now there are 12,000 and that tally is expected to pass 100,000 by 2030.
Without global agreements, this could well lead to a catastrophe, such as the Kessler Effect, in which the debris from one collision can cause hundreds of crashes, devastating global communications.
“We've seen a massive explosion, not just in commercial satellites and the congestion that's in low Earth orbit, but also in military capability,” Mr Archer said. “And nobody's done the analysis yet to really be able to work out is that a sustainable number.”
But Britain’s telescope network will allow the agency to notify authorities if there is “risk to life” from falling debris and to carry out evacuations.
“Thankfully, nobody has ever been hit by space debris yet but at some point it will happen,” he added. “By being able to provide the alert, at least we can give people forewarning if there is a critical risk.”
With the growing possibility that warfare could spread to space, and with some countries designing satellite killers, the telescope system will also form a part of the UK’s space defences.
“They're important for national security aspects as we track foreign objects and, where we're starting to see interesting satellites from other nations doing things, we can track those and give that information to the Ministry of Defence,” Mr Archer said.
