The UK became the latest country to activate a space-focused defence organisation, with the official opening of UK Space Command. The new command was formally created on April 1 – just as the Royal Air Force (RAF) had been, 103 years before. It is currently headquartered at RAF Station High Wycombe (all RAF bases are designated ‘Stations’) in England. Whereas some countries – such as France, Israel, Japan and Russia – have simply made their air forces also responsible for defence space operations and, in the case of France, Israel and Russia, accordingly renamed these as ‘air and space forces’ or ‘aerospace forces’, the UK has adopted the approach of creating a joint command. It is staffed by personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and the UK civil service. The US is currently the only country with an entire armed service devoted to space – the US Space Force, established formally at the end of 2019 (and in practice during 2020).
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