It speaks volumes about our space programme, and indeed the current state of our country, that the single largest UK space project (worth £3.6 billion) is a nice toy for the military.

Jonathan Amos writes about the Skynet 5D spacecraft, and speculates about the wider applicability of Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to space projects, including Skysight, a possible Earth Observation system which the government would use on a data purchase basis.

• UK Skynet: Not to be confused with The Terminator -- Spaceman blog: BBC Online

UPDATE: A friend of mine comments:-

Yeah, I love the whole "Look, it's nothing to do with Terminator, ok?

"What is it then?"

"A military computer system developed by a private company and used to control robotic attack drones"

Needs more Summer Glau, dammit!

;-)