UK ‘extremely dependent’ on the US for space security • The Register
The current rhetoric coming from the US is “alarming” for the UK, which depends on a continuation of their long-standing co-operation around space and military tech for the future, the UK’s second parliamentary chamber heard this week.
Dr Bleddyn Bowen, Associate Professor of Astropolitics at Durham University, told a committee of the House of Lords that the isolationist approach advocated by the Trump administration since its leader’s second term in office was “concerning” for the UK, especially as it is dependent on its North Atlantic ally for space technology and military capability.
“In many news pieces I’ve read in the last five, six months, many journalists have wanted to dispel the notion that there ever was a special relationship between America and Britain. But if you look at space, missiles, nuclear and intelligence — and also cryptography — that is where there really is a special relationship between Britain and the United States, and where Britain is, in many ways, dependent on the United States,” he told the Lords.
If things get to the point where UK-US relations do deteriorate, we will have a string of structural problems to deal with in terms of defense capabilities
Bowen explained that in the early part of the Cold War, the UK decided not to pursue its efforts at being a satellite-launching state and also decided against pursuing a complete nuclear weapons capability, unlike the French and other Western European states. It did this “because the Americans provided everything we wanted in the end, after enough negotiations.. we were never pressured or felt the pressure to develop those kinds of sovereign space capabilities.”
He added: “We are extremely dependent on the Americans, so maintaining that relationship whilst we are so dependent is of supreme importance.”
In February, US vice president JD Vance came to Europe and said the Trump administration was concerned with European security. But he also said the most worrying threat to European security was “the threat from within,” going on to enumerate a long list of grievances, including the application of UK laws designed to protect women seeking abortions from harassment.
Trump has called on members of the NATO military alliance, which includes the UK, to commit to spending 5 percent of their GDPs on defence. In February, the UK government committed to spending 2.5 percent of GDP from April 2027, a move welcomed by Trump.
“Given the events and the discourse of the last 5-6 months, yes, my faith has been shaken in the United States and, it’s a real conundrum for the British and not just in space,” Bowen said.
“If things get to the point where UK-US relations do deteriorate, we will have a string of structural problems to deal with in terms of defense capabilities, given how so many of our defense companies are in many ways Anglo-American,” he said.
However, he added that while there were “real issues to sort out there” he had not heard of any scaling back of the day-to-day military to military cooperation. For example, the UK Space Command is still highly integrated with the activities of the US Space Force, he said.
Research by Tussell last month revealed that the Ministry of Defence is slowly but surely shifting its spending on military hardware to Europe and away from the US. ®
