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By Brendan Cole
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The U.K. has launched a special space unit amid growing concerns about the threats in orbit posed by Russia and other adversaries.
In announcing the Royal Air Force's (RAF) Number 3 Space Effects Squadron, U.K. Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth warned of "serious questions about Russia's intent in space."
U.K. Space Command had accused Russia last October of stalking British military satellites.
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In June 2025, the U.K. joined 29 other states at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council in condemning Russian jamming and spoofing.
The BBC reported this week that the British military has been jamming or blocking satellites from other countries, using a ground-based system to stave off hostile threats.
"The confirmation that the U.K. has been jamming other countries' satellites is less surprising than it may sound," Filippo Marchetti, associate professor of international law and technology at England's University of Westminster told Newsweek. "From a legal perspective, what matters is how the technology is used, and against whom."
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What the New RAF Unit Will Do
The RAF already operates the Number 1 Space Operations Squadron, which watches what is happening in orbit, while its number two Space Warning Squadron warns of threats.
The new number three squadron is aimed at disrupting hostile threats in space, protecting British satellites, warning of incoming missile attacks and providing communications, according to a statement from the U.K. Ministry of Defence.
It will use advanced technology, including Electronic Warfare (EW) "to disrupt, degrade and deny hostile actions," the statement added.
During a speech to the U.K. Space Power conference, Smyth said on Wednesday the new squadron will "disrupt, degrade and deny hostile activity to defend U.K. space interests and gain operational advantage for the integrated force."
It would also support offensive and defensive space operations but he added "no one wants a war in space. We are positioning to deter this."
"Our new No. 3 Space Effects Squadron will deliver precise, integrated effects to safeguard our national interests in space," Smyth said.
How Much Britain Depends on Satellites
The policy paper U.K. Space Strategy, which was updated last week, outlines how space underpins the U.K.'s energy systems, financial markets and national defense.
The U.K. government estimates satellite services provide around 18 percent of the U.K's economic activity.
This strategy outlines plans until 2035, which include funding of £7.8 billion ($10.3 billion) until the 2029/30 financial year with the aim of driving growth in the space sector, which can boost the economy and the country's defense.
Russia and China Drive Growing Security Concerns
Smyth told The Times that Russia had conducted "unsafe" maneuvering of its satellites close to British ones and was concerned about escalation.
In May, the RAF tracked "dangerous maneuvers" by five Russian satellites moving close to two Finnish commercial satellites and in June, Smyth said a Russian satellite constellation had disrupted GPS signals across Europe and Canada.
But legal ramifications are posed by reports that the British military has been jamming or blocking satellites from other countries to defend itself from hostile threats.
Marchetti from the University of Westminster said that a foreign satellite observing British territory or ships is exercising a freedom guaranteed by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and so interfering with it in peacetime needs a justification.
"International law, including international space law, does not permit a state to disrupt another state's satellites simply because that state is an adversary," he said. "The new U.K. Space Strategy commits to acting in accordance with international law but the U.K. has said little publicly about how these rules inform their strategic thinking, and we will have to see how these statements translate into practice."
The New Global Space Race
During his speech, Smyth also highlighted how Russia did not pose the only threat, saying there were "other nations not behaving responsibly in space."
The U.S. Space Force's space threat fact sheet updated in July said that China was testing and fielding sophisticated counterspace capabilities to disrupt U.S. space-enabled capabilities and achieve strategic control over the U.S. military in the Indo-Pacific region.
It said that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) considered space as playing a key role in future conflicts by enabling long-range precision strikes and denying other militaries space-based information.
Earlier this month, Secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink, announced an American "on-orbit" weapon to protect U.S. forces against hostile enemy action. It was the first time the U.S. had admitted to such weapons, although no other details were given.
While the U.S. space threat fact sheet also described how Moscow sees space as a war-fighting domain, its technology in the sector has declined because of funding shortfalls, fewer launches and international isolation.
Russia conducted only 17 launches in 2025—well short of the 26 or more annual launches it averaged for the last three decades.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Tony Phillips.
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