Saturday, September 26, 2026

Opinions: Where the U.K. Space Strategy 2026 falls short

Plus: Ukraine's Starlink lessons for the Pentagon
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

09/26/2026

READ IN BROWSER

SpaceNews logo
Space News Opinions newsletter logo

Subscribe now and read anywhere with the SpaceNews app: Unlimited reporting and analysis – plus the monthly digital magazine – from $25/month. Get access now.

By Dan Robitzski


Welcome back to our weekly newsletter highlighting the opinions and perspectives of the SpaceNews community.


📲  Download the SpaceNews mobile app


Britain can see the threats to its satellites. It still can’t stop them.


The recently announced U.K. Space Strategy 2026 formally recognizes that space is a contested military domain and recognizes defense and national security as top priorities for the U.K. But still the strategy falls short in ensuring those priorities are met, argued Daniel Molland in a recent commentary. Molland, the CTO of Shield Space, wrote that by declining to list space control as a dedicated funding category, the U.K. "gives itself no route to back the companies building these systems or to buy what they produce."


"The forthcoming defense space policy should state how the U.K. will field counterspace, with a budget attached, rather than deferring the question again," Molland wrote. "Until it does, the U.K. has committed to controlling a domain while paying only to watch and service it, which is all show and no go."


Read the full SpaceNews article here.

A Ukrainian soldier sets up a Starlink terminal. Credit: Ukraine Military Center

A Ukrainian soldier sets up a Starlink terminal. Credit: Ukraine Military Center

Ukraine’s Starlink experience offers a lesson for the Pentagon


The critical role Starlink played in Ukraine's war effort against Russia has revealed important lessons and warnings for the value connectivity plays in modern military engagements, according to a commentary by Cailabs CEO Jean-François Morizur.


Outages and disruptions illustrate the importance of redundancy and resilience, Morizur wrote.


"My point isn’t that Ukraine should cease to use Starlink or use it less," he wrote. "Starlink has played a vital role in the war effort. It’s that Ukraine should have several ways to stay connected. Militaries — all militaries — need networks that can route data through several providers and transmission methods when a path fails. A network in which data can be distributed by several providers and kinds of technology would help to consolidate and build on the extraordinary progress that Ukraine has made this year."


Read the full SpaceNews article here.


SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community’s diverse perspectives. Whether you’re an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to opinion (at) spacenews.com to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine. If you have something to submit, read some of our recent opinion articles and our submission guidelines to get a sense of what we’re looking for. The perspectives shared in these opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent their employers or professional affiliations.

FROM SPACENEWS

Download the latest SpaceNews Intelligence report

Where do space investors see the biggest opportunities? SpaceNews has mapped the ranks of private space firms valued at $1 billion or more, capturing 37 companies working in launch and satellite broadband, Earth observation, space stations, orbital data centers and other promising markets. Drawing on public disclosures, original reporting and other sources, each profile tracks when and how a company achieved unicorn status and its latest known valuation, alongside funding-round breakdowns and total capital raised from BryceTech’s Startup Space database. Download the report.

Subscribe to SpaceNews



No comments:

Post a Comment

Opinions: Where the U.K. Space Strategy 2026 falls short

Plus: Ukraine's Starlink lessons for the Pentagon  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ...