LONDON — Britain announced today that it will launch a new military space squadron charged with defending the country’s satellites, in the latest move as various countries rush for military space capabilities.

The new Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron will protect critical satellites used in communications and to warn of incoming missile attacks, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

It described the unit — to be known as No III Space Effects Squadron — as the country’s first dedicated to “disrupting, degrading, and denying enemy activity targeting British interests in space”.

The MoD noted the UK launched two squadrons in 2023 that “watch and warn” of space threats while the new unit will “act against those threats, using advanced technology, including electronic warfare”.

Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth will formally unveil the squadron today at a two-day UK Space Power Conference starting in London, where Defence Secretary Wes Streeting will also warn Britain must “keep pace in the new space race”.

The announcement comes just over a week after the US confirmed for the first time that it has arms deployed in orbit above the Earth.

That prompted China to warn against turning outer space into a “battlefield” and Russia to caution it must be “free from any weapon”, amid fears of an arms race in space.