Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of low-Earth-orbit satellite technologies in supporting (1) military communications capabilities and (2) communications resilience.

The UK Ministry of Defence has adopted the use of low-earth orbit satellite technologies to augment and supplement its sovereign military geostationary communications satellites in support of deployed operations and training exercises. There are significant benefits of low-earth orbit satellites as part of a hybrid approach, including ease of use, fast throughput and rapid deployment. These benefits need to be balanced against security, assurance and vulnerability considerations. Resilience of Defence satellite communications is achieved through a multi-orbit approach, of which low-Earth orbit satellites forms one element.