The UK has invested 5.15 million pounds ($6.9 million) to reinforce its space-based weather monitoring capability for national defense.
Under this effort, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will launch a new orbital satellite to replace the Prometheus-2 and CIRCE surveillance payloads, which were designed for the same purpose but were lost during a 2023 incident.
The agency will partner with UK-based companies Open Cosmos for the design and production of twin cubesats and Astroscale UK for the systems’ transit to space.
The near-identical satellites will hover in formation in a low-Earth, sun-synchronous orbit for operations encompassing surface observations and data collection using local and remote-sensing methods.
Dstl will facilitate the initiative until 2028, covering the mission’s lifecycle from design to disposal.
“Our advanced satellite solutions will provide the critical data needed to understand the ionosphere and protect vital space infrastructure,” Open Cosmos CEO Rafel Jordà Siquier stated.
“This mission exemplifies the power of collaboration in driving innovation and ensuring the security of our space assets.”
The Orpheus Mission
The UK Ministry of Defence noted that the project, to be called “Orpheus,” will consist of space domain awareness solutions sourced from allied countries.
The suite’s primary payload is Hyperspectral Imaging from South African defense contractor Dragonfly Aerospace and Defence Research and Development Canada, which will be used for tracking targets of interest “based on their spectral signatures.”
Another is the US Naval Research Laboratory’s Triple Tiny Ionospheric Photometers to observe ultraviolet wavelengths on the dark side of the Earth at different angles and the Wind Ion Neutral Composition Suite for direct observations of ions and neutrals such as density, heat, and winds.
British payloads comprise the University of Bath’s TOPside ionosphere Computer Assisted Tomography for total electron content of GPS signals and Surrey Satellite Technology’s Radiation Monitor for particle detection and monitoring.
“Changes in space weather can have a critical impact on satellites which provide navigation aids, telecommunications and data transmission,” Dstl Chief Executive Dr. Paul Hollinshead commented.
“Sustained investment in space research in collaboration with our international partners strengthens the security of UK interests in space.”
