Virgin Orbit will launch a space rocket next month as an experimental RAF BRIK II nanoscale missile will be launched into space. It is the first satellite of our Air Force. It is about a nanosatellite the size of two to three boxes of milk.
Patrick Boulder, who works for a defense and strategic analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, explains exactly what this satellite will do. It orbits the Earth in low orbit every hour and a half. This means that you can collect information from all over the world. One of these information gathering tasks has to do with signal intelligence. This means you can capture and locate specific radio signals. The second function is communication. The third function is that it measures the effect of solar radiation on the radio and GPS signals.
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The Netherlands is behind in this technology. Other countries have already done this, Boulder agrees. We are late, but modern armed forces are also asking you to use the space field. This satellite is the first Dutch satellite. The great thing about it is that it was also built in the Netherlands.
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According to Boulder, the launch of the BRIC-2 nanosatellites into space undoubtedly tastes more than that. The Department of Defense is now seriously considering a strategy: Where should we go on spaceflight? But you can see that the space field within NATO has been declared a military domain for a year and a half. This means you can work well with NATO countries out there and develop certain standards. But every country can also contribute from space to NATO’s security.
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