Britain blasts new state-of-the-art military satellite into orbit capable of tracking Putin's troops

Britain has blasted a new state-of-the-art military satellite into orbit capable of spying on Russian soldiers. 

Dubbed 'Titania', the new piece of kit was fired into space on one of Elon Musk's Space X rockets, last month. 

The spacecraft is the size of a washing machine and designed to monitor military activity as it circles the globe at an altitude of more than 300 miles. 

Its orbital pathway appears to take it above the likes of China, Russia, the Arctic and Argentina, according to online monitoring site Space Tracker.

All the areas are potential hot zones for the UK, with China threatening to invade Taiwan and Russia increasing deploying submarines and spy ships towards the UK from the north, while president Javier Milei continues his sabre-rattling over the Falklands, the British territory Argentina invaded in 1982 before being defeated by the UK.

Titania is the second satellite in the UK's growing constellation of military craft now in the night sky, following the launch of Tyche in August 2024. She will soon be followed by two more satellites, Juno and Oberon.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, the head of the RAF, the new spy satellites would 'ensure our Armed Forces can fight and win wherever they are.'

'The ability to observe the Earth from space is critical to both national resilience and military advantage. This will be demonstrated by Tyche and Titania, alongside Juno and Oberon in the years ahead,' he added.

Dubbed 'Titania', the new piece of kit was fired into space on one of Elon Musk's Space X rockets, last month.

The satellite will be able to monitor military movements, providing images similar to this

Titania will be run by UK Space Command as part of the ISTARI programme to deliver new space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tech by the end of 2033.

She weighs around 100kg and orbits the Earth every ninety minutes, travelling at almost 16,700mph.

The spacecraft was fired into space aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on October 1.

The successful launch comes as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) also stands up Project Inaros, which is testing out an advanced network of ground-based sensors built to monitor space from three sites around the world.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'The new space age is here. Space underpins everything from weather forecasts and financial transactions to sat-navs and mobile phone connections, and it is critical for our national security and military operations.

'Having Titania now in orbit and Project Inaros stepping up how we watch over our satellites means we can see threats sooner, making the UK safer.'

Titania was designed and built in Hampshire by the partnership of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and BAE Systems as part of a £9.5million contract.

The satellite has entered a commissioning phase lasting several months, during which engineers will test and calibrate its onboard systems.

The hi-tech spy satellite is the second of a new series of British-builts spacecraft launched into orbit 

The successful launch comes as the Ministry of Defence  also stands up Project Inaros, which is testing out an advanced network of ground-based sensors (pictured) built to monitor space from three sites around the world.

She is expected to operate for at least five years before burning up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere.

The technology on board Titania is a closely guarded secret, with the MoD withholding specifications for security reasons.

The British military has long benefited from the use of their own hi-tech satellite communications system, called Skynet.

However, getting access to surveillance and reconnaissance imagery from space has largely required a friendly request to allies, like the United States.

But there are growing concerns among some in European defence figures over the reliability of America as a partner, which is causing nations to set up their own sovereign technology.

Concerns appeared to deepen further this week after an American firm was given a £2.4billion contract to build the Skynet 6 satellite, prompting an intervention by Andy Burnham.

The Prime Minister is reportedly reviewing the decision to hand the lucrative deal to US defence firm, Lockheed Martin instead of its European rival, Airbus.

The British arm of Airbus has long delivered the technology that handles the UK's most sensitive data. Supporters of the firm say not giving it the deal would be a 'betrayal' of British space tech and could threaten UK jobs.

But those backing Lockheed Martin have pointed out the technology giant is a European, not British, firm.