The UK government has awarded CGI UK a £65 million contract to develop the BOREALIS command, control, and data processing system for the National Space Operations Centre.
Initiated in 2023, the BOREALIS project aims to develop a system capable of processing and collating information across multiple classifications, up to Top Secret, to monitor the space domain, conduct space operations, and support timely decision-making for the country’s own operations as well as operations with allies and partners. BOREALIS will integrate multiple current and future systems and sensors, as well as other data sources.
“The use of space is crucial for our economy, prosperity, security, and defence, but assured access to space is becoming increasingly contested by adversaries and congested by users and debris,” said Maj Gen Paul Tedman, Commander of UK Space Command. “Therefore, it is imperative that we know what is happening in space.”
In a 7 March update, the UK government announced that CGI UK had been awarded a five-year contract to develop and deliver the BOREALIS system. When the original call for the programme was published in June 2023, the estimated total value of the project was £50 million. With the revised £65 million price tag, the project’s cost has risen by £15 million, representing a 30% increase.
In addition to the development of the BOREALIS system, CGI will also be tasked with integrating the existing AURORA system. Initially deployed in January 2021, AURORA, which was also developed by CGI, was designed to enhance the functionality of the UK Space Operations Centre by providing tools for monitoring and analyzing activities in Earth’s orbit. According to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, “AURORA will feed into BOREALIS and will need to be developed and supported alongside the creation of new systems and functionalities.”
According to CGI, the company aims to deliver an initial operating capability for the BOREALIS command, control, and data processing system within 18 months.
