The UK Space Command is in line to boost its space domain awareness capabilities.

This became possible following a deal announced by the Ministry of Defence on the 22nd of November with a small London-based company, which sets up and operates a ground-based telescope in Cyprus.

Known as Project Nyx Alpha, the capability being provided by British space technology company SpaceFlux will enable Space Command and the UK Space Agency to accurately monitor the fast-growing number of satellites and “debris” in orbit.

The British plan to have the system in operational service by spring 2024, reestablishing a former capability that had lapsed.

Spaceflux will build, maintain, and routinely operate the system tasked by UK Space Command and UK Space Agency analysts shortly after the launch of the UK Space Operations Centre at the Royal Air Force base at High Wycombe, southern England, is completed.

The centre is planned to coordinate civilian and military space domain awareness capabilities to protect infrastructure like the Skynet satellite communications network from space-related threats and hazards.

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Announcing the deal in the UK Space conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey, the head of the UK Space Command, said the new capability was a key part in helping Britain defend its interests in space.

To support military and civil missions in space, Godfrey also announced the British have procured space domain awareness data from Spaceflux as well as Raytheon Systems.

Regarding the company, SpaceFlux, on its website, says that it offers access to the largest optical sensors currently available in the market, with telescopes up to 70-cm in diameter, allowing the detection of the faintest objects from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) and Cislunar. The website also says that the company is rapidly expanding its network to 10 locations this year and a total of 25 locations by the end of 2024.

Cyprus was chosen as the location for the British telescope due to the fact it provides a better view of the geostationary orbit than sites on the UK mainland, the MoD statement mentioned. The UK already has two major military bases on the eastern Mediterranean island.

It is noted that soon a 2nd modern observatory will be operating in the village of Agridia in the mountain area of ​​Pitsilia. The 1st modern observatory and Planetarium on the island have already been operating in the Episcopio, in the Metropolis of Tamasos and Orinis since last June. Both observatories carry high-precision robotic telescopes and helioscopes.

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