Two UK Space Command units to be rewarded with squadron status
Two of UK Space Command's operational units are being awarded squadron status.
The head of the UK Space Command said the move was "in recognition of the growing importance of space and the outstanding contribution" of UK personnel.
Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey, speaking at the Defence Space Conference 2023, said he was "proud" to announce the changed status.
"The UK Space Operations Centre will be renamed Number 1 Space Operations Squadron and will form the military contribution to the joint [civilian/military] space operations centre," he said.
AVM Godfrey described the centre as "analysts working side by side for the military assessment and with civil space analysts from the UK space agency".
AVM Godfrey also said RAF Fylingdales Operation Squadron will become Number 2 Space Warning Squadron.
He said this was "the next step in Fylingdales' 60-year unbroken history of providing missile warning and space surveillance to the UK and its allies".
The space chief added that the terminology used as a joint organisation had been thought about "long and hard".
"'Squadron' is common to all three services and we wanted to renumber rather than reuse previous squadron numbers to demonstrate the importance of the space domain in its own right," AVM Godfrey explained.
The news comes after the UK Space Academy joined forces with the Defence Academy near Shrivenham in Oxfordshire.
After declaring its initial operating capability earlier this year, the UK Space Academy delivers training and education to UK defence - as well as industry, academia and international partners.
UK Space Command will redevelop a building at the Defence Academy, which delivers defence and security education, to allow both academies to share facilities and training expertise.
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