UK launches its first Earth-imaging military satellite

&quot;It&#x27;s designed to capture 5km-wide spot scenes on the ground and have a best resolution of 90cm.&quot;[1]<p>Some sample ~90cm-ish imagery from Airbus Vision-1 (20km swath 87cm resolution) is available at [2].<p>It looks like it&#x27;d be used for knowing when a warship is in port (but perhaps having to guess which one), or when a warship under construction has been floated, or when a large military construction project has started or completed, or when ground for a new military forward operating base has been cleared, etc. Then more expensive higher resolution imagery could be ordered if it were worthwhile to do so.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;c1d77yq9zz2o" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;c1d77yq9zz2o</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;intelligence.airbus.com&#x2F;newsroom&#x2F;satellite-image-gallery&#x2F;vision-1&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;intelligence.airbus.com&#x2F;newsroom&#x2F;satellite-image-gal...</a>

Somewhat ironically, the BBC article illustrates the &quot;similar capability&quot; with a picture taken by a commercial British satellite launched in 2018 and built by the same private British company.<p>So there is nothing ground breaking there in term of capability. The point is just that this is apparently the first reconnaissance satellite owned by the MoD, which probably means much faster reaction times and more independence.<p>Interesting factoid:<p>&quot;<i>One interesting feature is its propulsion system which manoeuvres the satellite using water. The water goes through a thruster that heats it up to make superheated steam. That&#x27;s how we get thrust and do station-keeping,&quot; explained chief technology officer Andrew Haslehurst.</i>&quot; [1]<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;c1d77yq9zz2o" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;c1d77yq9zz2o</a>

&gt; The washing machine-sized satellite, was designed and built in the UK under a £22m contract awarded to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and is the first to be fully owned by the MoD.<p>Win for the UK satellite industry here. Also a win for NATO capability that can operate independently of the US if needed.

The title is misleading. SpaceX launched it. The title had me wondering when the UK had suddenly developed a launcher.

&gt; The first signals from Tyche were received a few hours after lift-off on Friday night, confirming the successful launch from Vandenberg space force base, in California, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-11 mission.<p>And this particular launch carried 116 satellites: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;videos&#x2F;cvg495lr8pjo" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;videos&#x2F;cvg495lr8pjo</a>

SSTL do amazingly good value space work.

&gt; It&#x27;s designed to capture 5km-wide spot scenes on the ground and have a best resolution of 90cm.<p>Does somebody here know the military logic behind making these specifications public? I would imagine you don&#x27;t want your opponents to know how much you know?

A couple of related video essays<p>This Satellite does not exist: The Story of Zircon(lazerpig)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=s1CKnFqeXkg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=s1CKnFqeXkg</a><p>Black Arrow. And why Britain doesn&#x27;t have a space program(alexander the ok)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=K0FLy2nI13E" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=K0FLy2nI13E</a>

It sounds like extremely late to the game, we are talking about 1960s tech.<p>Very surprising for a country as large as the UK, I can only assume they used US satellites up until now, and started designing their own due to Trump

I may well be utterly wrong, but this seems a bit Maginot Line.<p>Single large satellites are I think going to be sitting ducks for anti-satellite missiles. Be destroyed first five minutes of a war.<p>What you need is something like Starlink - bazillions of tiny satellites.

How many years until we have high enery lasers shot on people&#x27;s heads?

What&#x27;s even the point of such an awful one?