This is the man that will be running the UK's new Space Command at RAF High Wycombe.

Air Commodore Paul Godfrey OBE is set to be promoted to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal as he heads up the UK Space Command, which was announced as part of a huge £16.5 billion armed forces modernisation programme late last year.

And in positive news for the county, UK Space Command will be based at RAF High Wycombe in Naphill.

Air Commodore Godfrey joined the RAF in 1991 and has been a fighter pilot for most of his career.

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A former Station Commander at RAF Lossiemouth, most recently he was responsible for the planning and employment of coalition air and space power across the Middle East within the US Air Force Combined Air and Space Operations Centre.

Space Command will be a Joint Command, staffed from all three services of the armed forces, the civil service and key members of the commercial sector.

“This government’s determination to establish UK Space Command is a huge step forward because space is fundamental to our national security and to our way of life," said Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, the chief of the air staff.

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"UK Space Command will protect and promote the United Kingdom's interests in space, working with like-minded allies around the world for the benefit of all.”

Air Commodore Godfrey said he was "incredibly honoured" to have been selected to lead the new Space Command.

He said: "I have seen first-hand how critical the space domain is and how it underpins not only military operations, but broader everyday activities.

“As it becomes ever more congested and contested, it is critical that the UK is integrated in its approach to space and the formation of this Command will provide a key focal point for this complex operating environment.”