DE&S awards contract for UK space system to help protect military satellites

Above: UK Space Command Operation.
Courtesy DE&S

The Borealis command, control and data processing system will help the UK military the UK Space Agency to better monitor and protect satellites, through new software which compiles and processes data from multiple sources, more quickly, to monitor space.

The £65 million deal with CGI UK, an IT systems integration specialist, will support around 100 skilled jobs in Leatherhead, Reading and Bristol, boosting the UK’s space capabilities and delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.

The new technology will provide UK military with a better understanding of the Space Domain, improving military commanders decision-making process and supporting operations, both at home and overseas.

Under the five-year contract, Borealis will provide software for the National Space Operations Centre, which develops and operates the UK’s space surveillance and protection capabilities. It will be a unique, UK-made system which support military operations around the world.

Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Rt Hon Maria Eagle MP, said: “This new deal delivers for our national security by enhancing protection for our satellite technology that millions rely on, while boosting jobs and growth at home.

“This Government continues to work swiftly to develop the new Defence Industrial Strategy. This announcement will support hundreds of highly skilled jobs, unlocking defence as an engine for growth and driving forward this government’s Plan for Change.”

Paul Russell, Space Delivery Team Leader at DE&S, said: “The Borealis capability will harness multiple different sources of data (defence, government and commercial) and support military and civil operations and capabilities across all domains. It will work in conjunction with other programmes, such as ISTARI (UK Space Commands programme to launch satellites into orbit to deliver Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability), to ensure key sovereign and international data is obtained, managed and shared to improve the UK’s space domain awareness, ability to exercise freedom of action in space and assure space operations.”

Borealis will enhance the UK’s ability to monitor and protect crucial space assets, which underpin the UK’s security and prosperity, enabling us to navigate the oceans, keep our military personnel safe, monitor the climate, and forecast the weather.    Other key benefits which Borealis provides includes:

Space Domain Awareness: The ability to understand and analyse what is happening in space around the Earth. This includes space weather – the environmental conditions in space around Earth – and monitoring objects in space, including space debris and active satellites.

Protection of UK space assets: Borealis will provide a single, bespoke system, which will compile all data related to UK satellites. This enhanced awareness of what is happening in space will enable UK Space Command to better protect critical UK space systems.

Integrated C2 System: Borealis will provide timely decision-quality information to government and military commanders through an interoperable system, across different tiers of security classification.

Maj Gen Paul Tedman, Commander of UK Space Command, said: “The use of space is crucial for our economy, prosperity, security, and defence, but assured access to space is becoming increasingly contested by adversaries and congested by users and debris. Therefore, it is imperative that we know what is happening in space.

“Borealis is an innovative system that draws together multiple inputs to enhance the UK government’s understanding of the wide-ranging activity on orbit, allowing the UK to protect not just our own space assets, but those of our allies and partners as well.”

CGI is one of the world’s leading providers of independent IT services to international defence customers including the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA. CGI will work alongside a network of partner organisations hand-picked for their expertise to deliver the programme.

Neil Timms, Senior Vice President of Space, Defence & Intelligence UK & Australia at CGI said: “We’re proud to support UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency through delivery of BOREALIS. We believe this is a strategic step towards establishing a more holistic approach to the UK’s national space data architecture, with BOREALIS and the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) at its heart.”