Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Britain sees itself as a significant power which upholds global norms and deploys expeditionary military force around the world. But no matter what role Britain wants for itself, it cannot do so without spacepower and considering its freedom of action in the common of outer space. This reality of international relations in the 21st century is a missing link in British strategic thought. This article provides context for a discussion of Britain in space and on whether it should acquire an Earth observation capability, as it is an essential pillar of critical infrastructure and military capabilities that enables what freedom of action is purchased by new aircraft carriers and 5th generation aircraft. The United Kingdom is assess as a secondary space power relative to other major space powers, and considers the risks posed to it by its military integration with America and commercial and space industrial integration with Europe.

Keywords

British defence policy British space policy British strategy European space policy space power space security transatlantic security United States

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barnett

Duvall

(eds) (2005) Power in Global Governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BBC News (2016) EU’s Galileo system goes live after 17 years. BBC News, 15 December. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38329341 (accessed 20 October 2017).

Billman

(1999) Military power development and space power’s relative importance. In: DeBlois

(ed.) Beyond the Paths of Heaven: The Emergence of Space Power Thought. Montgomery, AL: Air University Press, pp. 507–568.

Biscop

(2012) The UK and European defence: Leading or leaving? International Affairs 88(6): 1297–1313.

Blagden

(2015) ‘Global multipolarity, European security and implications for UK grand strategy: Back to the future, once again. International Affairs 91(2): 333–350.

Bowen

(2014) Cascading crises: Orbital debris and the widening of space security. Astropolitics 12(1): 46–68.

Bowen

(2017) From the sea to outer space: The command of space as the foundation of spacepower theory. Journal of Strategic Studies. Epub ahead of print 23 February. DOI: 10.1080/01402390.2017.1293531.

Chalmers

(2016) The 2015 SDSR in context: From boom to bust—And back again? RUSI Journal 161(4): 4–12.

Childs

(2016) The measure of Britain’s New Maritime ambition. Survival 58(1): 131–150.

10.

Clarke

(2011) The United Kingdom’s strategic moment. In: Codner

Clarke

(eds) A Question of Security: The British Defence Review in an Age of Austerity. London: I.B. Tauris, 7–20.

11.

Coletta

Pilch

(eds) (2009) Space and Defense Policy. Abingdon: Routledge.

12.

Cornish

Dorman

(2012) Smart muddling through: Rethinking UK national strategy beyond Afghanistan. International Affairs 88(2): 213–222.

13.

Cornish

Dorman

(2015) Complex security and strategic latency: The UK Strategic defence and security review 2015. International Affairs 91(2): 351–370.

14.

De Selding

(2011) Surrey to build three optical imaging satellites for Chinese firm. SpaceNews, 29 June. Available at: http://spacenews.com/surrey-build-three-optical-imaging-satellites-chinese-firm/ (accessed 20 April 2017).

15.

De Selding

(2016) U.S. ITAR satellite export regime’s effects still strong in Europe. SpaceNews, 14 April. Available at: http://spacenews.com/u-s-itar-satellite-export-regimes-effects-still-strong-in-europe/ (accessed 20 April 2017).

16.

De Selding

(2017a) ESA gets 9.5% budget increase in 2017, led by navgation. Space Intel Report, 19 January. Available at: https://www.spaceintelreport.com/esa-get-95-budget-increase-in-2017 (accessed 21 April 2017).

17.

De Selding

(2017b) ‘UK spaceport debate wades into unpleasant ITAR territory’. Space Intel Report 20 April. Available at: https://www.spaceintelreport.com/uk-spaceport-debate-wades-into-unpleasant-itar-territory (accessed 26 April 2017).

18.

Dobson

Marsh

(2014) Anglo-American relations: End of a special relationship? The International History Review 36(4): 673–697.

19.

Dolman

(2002) Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age. London: Frank Cass.

20.

Dumbrell

(2009) The US-UK special relationship: Taking the 21st-century temperature. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 11(1): 64–78.

21.

Dunn

Webber

(2016) The UK, the European Union and NATO: Brexit and the law of unintended consequences. Global Affairs 2(5): 471–480.

22.

Dunne

(2004) ‘When the shooting starts’: Atlanticism in British security strategy. International Affairs 80(5): 893–909.

23.

Durand

(2011) Entente or oblivion: Franco-British defence co-operation. In: Codner

Clarke

(eds) A Question of Security: The British Defence Review in an Age of Austerity. London: I.B. Tauris, 91–116.

24.

Edmunds

(2014) Complexity, strategy and the national interest. International Affairs 90(3): 525–539.

25.

English

Kenny

(2001) Public intellectuals and the question of British decline. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 3(3): 259–283.

26.

Epstein

(2015) Scholarship and the ship of state: Rethinking the Anglo-American strategic decline analogy. International Affairs 91(2): 319–331.

27.

ESA (2017) Welcome to ESA—Funding, 18 January. Available at: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/Funding (accessed 20 April 2017).

28.

European Commission (2013) EU space industrial policy: Releasing the potential for economic growth in the space sector. COM(2013) 108, 28 February. Brussels. European Commission.

29.

European Commission (2016) Space strategy for Europe. COM(2016) 705 final, 26 October. Brussels: European Commission.

30.

European Community and European Space Agency (ESA) (2004) Framework agreement between the European community and the European space agency. Official Journal of the European Union, L 261/64, 6 August. Brussels: ESA.

31.

Freedman

(1999) The Politics of British Defence 1979–1998. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

32.

Gaskarth

(2014) Strategizing Britain’s role in the world. International Affairs 90(3): 559–581.

33.

George

(1998) An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

34.

Germond

(2014) Small navies in perspective: Deconstructing the hierarchy of naval forces. In: Mulqueen

Sanders

Speller

(eds) Small Navies: Strategy and Policy for Small Navies in War and Peace. Farnham: Ashgate, 33–50.

35.

Gray

(1996) The influence of space power upon history. Comparative Strategy 15(4): 293–308.

36.

Harding

(2013) Space Policy in Developing Countries: The Search for Security and Development on the Final Frontier. Abingdon: Routledge.

37.

Harvey

Smid

HHF

Pirard

(2010) Emerging Space Powers: The New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East and South America. Chichester: Praxis.

38.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2014a) National Space Security Policy. London: HMG.

39.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2014b) Case study: NovaSAR, 1 May. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/novasar (accessed 19 October 2017).

40.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2015a) National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015. London: HMG.

41.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2015b) National Space Policy. London: HMG.

42.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2015c) Strategic defence and security review: £178bn of equipment spending, 23 November 2015. London. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/strategic-defence-and-security-review-178bn-of-equipment-spending (accessed 19 October 2017).

43.

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) (2017) Building Our Industrial Strategy. London: HMG.

44.

Hill

(2011) A Vertical Empire: History of the British Rocketry Programme. London: Imperial Collefe Press.

45.

Hoerber

(2009) ESA + EU: Ideology or pragmatic task sharing? Space Policy 25: 206–208.

46.

Kasku-Jackson

Waldrop

(2009) Understanding space law: Legal framework for space. In: Coletta

Pilch

(eds) Space and Defense Policy. Abingdon: Routledge, 64–103.

47.

Kelso

(2016) UK space policy and the politics of parliamentary debate. Space Policy 35: 43–46.

48.

Klein

(2006) Space Warfare: Strategy, Principles and Policy. Abingdon: Routledge.

49.

Lutes

Hays

Manzo

et al . (eds) (2011) Toward a Theory of Spacepower: Selected Essays. Washington, DC: NDU Press.

50.

McCourt

(2014) Has Britain found its role? Survival 56(2): 159–178.

51.

Marsh

Baylis

(2006) The Anglo-American ‘special relationship’: The Lazarus of international relations. Diplomacy & Statecraft 17: 173–211.

52.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) (2010) UK Military Space Primer. Shrivenham: Doctrine, Concepts, and Development Centre.

53.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) (2012) National Security through Technology: Technology, Equipment, and Support for UK Defence and Security. London: MoD.

54.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) (2013) UK Air and Space Doctrine (Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30). Shrivenham: Doctrine, Concepts, and Development Centre.

55.

Morris

(2011) How Great is Britain? Power, responsibility and Britain’s future global role. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 13(3): 326–347.

56.

Norris

(2008) Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace. Chichester: Springer-Praxis.

57.

Oikonomou

(2012) ‘The European defence agency and Eu military space policy: Whose space odyssey? Space Policy 28: 102–109.

58.

Oliver

Williams

(2016) Special relationships in flux: Brexit and the future of the US-EU and US-UK relationships. International Affairs 92(3): 547–567.

59.

Paikowsky

Levi

Israel

(2013) Israel’s space strategy. In: Sadeh

(ed.) Space Strategy in the21st Century: Theory and Policy. Abingdon: Routledge, 322–334.

60.

Pannier

(2016) The Anglo-French defence partnership after the ‘Brexit’ vote: New incentives and new dilemmas. Global Affairs 2(5): 481–490.

61.

Pollpeter

(2005). The Chinese vision of space military operations. In: Mulvenon

Finkelstein

(eds) China’s Revolution in Doctrinal Affairs. Alexandria, VA: Center for Naval Analysis, pp. 329–369.

62.

Pollpeter

(2016) Space, the new domain: Space operations and Chinese military reforms. Journal of Strategic Studies 39(5–6): 709–727.

63.

Porter

(2010) Why Britain doesn’t do grand strategy. RUSI Journal 155(4): 6–12.

64.

Posen

(2003) Command of the commons: The military foundation of U.S. hegemony. International Security 28(1): 5–46.

65.

Quintana

(2017) The new space age. RUSI Journal 162(3): 88–109.

66.

Rathmel

(2011) Multilateral approaches to British security. In: Codner

Clarke

(eds) A Question of Security: The British Defence Review in an Age of Austerity. London: I.B. Tauris, 21–32.

67.

Ritchie

(2011) ‘Rethinking security: A critical analysis of the strategic defence and security review. International Affairs 87(2): 355–376.

68.

Rouge

Danielson

(2009) Coalition space operations: Lessons learned from Schriever V Wargame. High Frontier: The Journal for Space and Missile Professionals 5(4): 28–29.

69.

Sadeh

Vallance

(2009) The policy process. In: Coletta

Pilch

(eds) Space and Defense Policy. Abingdon: Routledge, 125–149.

70.

Sheehan

(2007) The International Politics of Space. Abingdon: Routledge.

71.

Sheldon

(2009) Deter war, not attacks against space systems. Space & Defense 3(1): 35–36.

72.

Sheldon

(2010) The strategic rationale for Britain in space. RUSI Journal 155(6): 28–34.

73.

Smith

(2002) Ten Propositions Regarding Spacepower. Montgomery, AL: Air University Press.

74.

Sputnik (2016) Russia, India agree on mutual placement of satellite stations—Roscosmos. Sputnik, 15 October. Available at: https://sputniknews.com/world/201610151046371584-russia-india-satellite-stations/ (accessed 18 October 2017).

75.

Strachan

(2011) Strategy and contingency. International Affairs 87(6): 1282–1283.

76.

Surrey Satellites Technology (2011) Government investment brings low cost radar satellites to market, 29 November. Available at: https://www.sstl.co.uk/Press/Government-investment-brings-low-cost-radar-satell (accessed 18 June 2017).

77.

Till

(2014) Are small navies different? In: Mulqueen

Sanders

Speller

(eds) Small Navies: Strategy and Policy for Small Navies in War and Peace. Farnham: Ashgate, 21–32.

78.

UK Space Agency (UKSA) (2012) Civil Space Strategy 2012-2016. Swindon: UKSA.

79.

UKSA (2014) Government Response to the Uk Space Innovation and Growth Strategy 2014-2030: Space Growth Action Plan. Swindon: UKSA.

80.

UKSA (2016) Summary Report: The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry. Swindon: UKSA.

81.

Union of Concerned Scientists (2017) UCS satellite database. Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/space-weapons/satellite-database (accessed 15 June 2017).

82.

Uttley

MRH

Wilkinson

(2016a) A spin of the wheel? Defence procurement and defence industries in the Brexit debates. International Affairs 92(3): 569–586.

83.

Uttley

MRH

Wilkinson

(2016b) Contingent choices: The future of United Kingdom defence procurement and defence industries in the post-Brexit era. Global Affairs 2(5): 471–502.

84.

Vital

(1971) The analysis of small power politics. In: Schou

Brundtland

(eds) Small States in International Relations. London: Almqvist & Wiksell Forlag AB, pp. 15–28.

85.

Wang

S-C

(2013) Transatlantic Space Politics: Competition and Cooperation above the Clouds. Abingdon: Routledge.

86.

Weeden

(2014) Through a Glass, Darkly: Chinese, American, and Russian Anti-satellite Testing in Space. Washington, DC: Secure World Foundation.

87.

(2016) Institutionalization, path dependence and the persistence of the Anglo-American special relationship. International Affairs 92(5): 1207–1228.

88.

Zala

(2015) Strategy in an era of rising powers: The British dilemma. RUSI Journal 160(6): 12–18.

British strategy and outer space: A missing link?

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References