---
title: "UK seeks to boost satellite defence amid growing space threats"
description: "LONDON, Oct 3 - Britain is building sensors to counter lasers that adversaries might use to blind satellites or intercept and interrupt communications, the UK government said on Friday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-03-uk-seeks-to-boost-satellite-defence-amid-growing-space-threats/"
published: "2025-10-03T04:45:08"
updated: "2025-10-03T04:45:10"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 269
---

# UK seeks to boost satellite defence amid growing space threats

> LONDON, Oct 3 - Britain is building sensors to counter lasers that adversaries might use to blind satellites or intercept and interrupt communications, the UK government said on Friday.

By Reuters · Published 3 October 2025, 06:45 SAST · Updated 3 October 2025, 06:45 SAST

## Key points
- In a bid to avoid becoming the intergalactic equivalent of a sitting duck, the UK government is splurging £500,000 to beef up its military space defenses, because in a world where even the stars are battlegrounds, you can’t afford to let your satellites be sitting targets.
- The UK government plans to invest £500,000 in enhancing military space capabilities amid rising threats from adversaries.
- A recent security review emphasizes the urgent need for Britain to strengthen its military space defenses and capabilities.
- General Paul Tedman highlights the critical role of satellites for Western militaries, stating they are essential for effective operations.
- European nations like Germany and France are ramping up space security investments in response to increasing geopolitical tensions.

## Content

By Cassell Bryan-Low

The government said it will spend about £500,000 ($672,750) on the project, which involves UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency.

A UK-government commissioned security review published this summer said Britain urgently needs to bolster defences for military space systems as adversaries improve their own abilities to attack in space.

The [Strategic Defence Review](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3S407P&linkedFromStory=true) called for Britain to invest in its own space attack capabilities, along with intelligence and navigation networks as well as satellite communications.

Militaries depend on satellites for communication, surveillance, and guidance data for troops, warships and weapons. Without their space assets, Western militaries “can't effectively understand, move, communicate, and fight,” General Paul Tedman, head of UK Space Command, said on Wednesday during a visit to the RAF Fylingdales radar station.

European and other Western military space officials [are warning about increasing hostile activity](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3V51GD&linkedFromStory=true) in space that could disrupt the operations of ground and sea forces.

“You’ve got to be able to protect your systems in space,” Tedman said at RAF Fylingdales, which provides missile warning and space surveillance to the United States and Britain.

While the U.S. dominates government spending on space globally, France and Germany were Europe’s two largest spenders on space last year, according to France-based consulting firm Novaspace.

Last week, Germany’s defence minister [warned about a growing threat posed by Russia](https://www.reutersconnect.com/nMT1ALTS8N3T50412) and announced Berlin would invest 35 billion euros ($41.09 billion) over the next five years on space security.

France’s space-related initiatives include leading [a 1.5-billion euro investment](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3V50JK&linkedFromStory=true) in Eutelsat, a French rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service.

(Reporting by Cassell Bryan-Low; Editing by Sergio Non)