In Orbit Servicing Control Centre, National Facility

Orbiting junk—dead satellites, discarded rocket stages, and fragments from collisions—now numbers over 100 million pieces smaller than 10 centimetres, each capable of wrecking a working satellite on impact. This project turns space debris from a research topic into an operational problem. A single collision could knock out satellite navigation, costing the UK £1 billion per day. Yet no dedicated national facility exists to coordinate the removal of this debris or to service ageing satellites in orbit. The consortium, led by the company Astroscale, will upgrade the Harwell Control Centre into a national hub for in-orbit servicing operations. Two satellites, launching in 2019, will serve as test targets for the first cleanup missions. If successful, the facility gives the UK a world-leading capability to actively remove debris and repair or refuel satellites—services that currently do not exist. That protects the satellite infrastructure that underpins navigation, communications, weather forecasting, and financial transactions. It also opens a commercial market for extending satellite lifetimes rather than replacing them, reducing both cost and future debris.