Quick thread on what the UK means by establishing UK Space Command and launching their own rocket by 2022 for context.

It's no secret that the UK is heavily involved in satellite manufacture. From supplying the larger Airbus chassis to micro- and cube-sats. This is Carbonite-2 from SSTL. Note the size.

Here's a video of the type of live video quality obtainable from such a tiny satellite as Carbonite-2 in a 500km polar orbit. Above Buenos Aires...

The UK is well positioned for launching polar low Earth orbits (LEO), less so for equatorial/geostationary orbits. The main UK space development to date has been the Sutherland Spaceport in northern Scotland. A flat plain very suitable to polar orbit satellite launch.

Orbex and their Orbex Prime rocket suitable for small polar orbit satellite are the prime launch partner for Sutherland. Their rockets are under construction and notable for a 3D printed combustion chamber and exhaust bell.

There have been some bumps in the road with Sutherland, and subsequently Lockheed Martin, originally a Sutherland Spaceport partner, has split off to work on the Shetlands Space Centre on Unst (also the location of an RAF remote radar head).

LM do not have their own small satellite launcher but do invest in a number of small rocket manufacturers. One is Rocket Lab who have their Electron platform, however the specific vehicle LM will use has not (yet) been officially announced and Rocket Lab are not LM's only option.

LM do manufacture their own cubsats however, with production intended to open up in the UK for defence related vehicles. There are MOU's and contracts with the UK and other UK based partners.

My own interpretation is Sutherland and Orbex appear the more "commercial". LM and Unst appear the more "secret squirrel". Unst is arguably a superior polar orbit launch site, is more remote, and already has an RAF defence presence. Sprinkle this opinion with grains of salt.

Another space launch option is Virgin Orbit and their horizontal launcher. The RAF have already signed contracts to launch small satellites from a variety of runways and have a pilot embedded with the company already.

Virgin Orbit are expected to nominally operate UK contracts from Cornwall Newquay Spaceport, an ex-RAF Airbase that also serves commercial aircraft. The 747/Rocket combination can theoretically launch from any number of suitable sites though, including RAF Wideawake/Ascension.

Meanwhile, the UK's acquisition of the troubled OneWeb (and IntelSats merged assets) continues to draw curious eyes, eyebrow shapes and opinions as an existing platform and partially orbiting network to base... something... on.

Although the UK Space Command is not as glitzy as the likes of NASA or SpaceX, it has a significant industrial baseline supplying the world already. It's a work that is in progress, pragmatic and many contracts have already been signed. Interesting times ahead at the very least.

/FIN