The United States and United Kingdom have carried out their first co-ordinated satellite manoeuvre in orbit, in what defence chiefs described as a major step forward in space co-operation.<\/p>\n
Between September 4 and 12, a US satellite was repositioned to inspect a UK satellite to confirm it was working properly.<\/p>\n
The test was part of \u201cOperation Olympic Defender\u201d, a joint military framework aimed at ensuring allied satellites can be monitored and defended.<\/p>\n
Air Vice-Marshal Paul Tedman, head of UK Space Command, said: \u201cThis operation was a first of its kind for UK Space Command and represents a significant increase in operational capability.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpertly executed with US Space Command, I could not be more pleased or proud of the rapid progress we are making with our allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now, with our allies, conducting advanced orbital operations to protect and defend our shared national and military interests in space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manoeuvre, known as a \u201crendezvous proximity operation\u201d, saw the US satellite move close to the UK one to check on its condition.<\/p>\n
Officials said the success of the exercise showed the two countries\u2019 ability to work together in orbit, where satellites are increasingly important for communications, navigation and defence.<\/p>\n
Lieutenant General Douglas Schiess, of the US Space Force, said the joint action \u201cvalidated the interoperability that\u2019s foundational to our collective defence\u201d.<\/p>\n
General Stephen Whiting, head of US Space Command, added: \u201cThough our opponents may attempt to replicate the value of such cooperation, our partnerships are uniquely defined by not only the mutual goal of deterring aggression but a shared pledge to fight and win shoulder to shoulder, if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK was one of the first nations to join the US-led Olympic Defender coalition, which is intended to prepare allies for joint operations in the event of a conflict in space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States and United Kingdom have carried out their first co-ordinated satellite manoeuvre in orbit, in what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[68098,59,57,58,50,68097,675,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-147959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-defence-chiefs","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-space-command","tag-the-united-states","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}