UK Space Agency

Artist's impression of the UK ESA facility. Credit: ESA.

European Space Agency opens its doors in the UK

The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), revealed.

Artist’s impression of the dense torus of gas and dust that orbits close within a few light years of the supermassive balck hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. In the central cavity of the torus, a spiral of hot gas circles the black hole, heated by nearby stars and collisions with fast flowing material from young stars. Image credit: ESA/C.Carreau.

Herschel finds hot gas on the menu for Milky Way’s black hole

Astronomers using Europe’s Herschel Space Observatory have spotted a cloud of incredibly hot gas very close to the supermassive black hole that lies at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.

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UK Space Agency and NASA join forces to explore the Solar System

The Sun and our neighbouring planet Mars are two destinations that the UK and US will be exploring together in the coming years.

ESA’s first UK facility.
Hot gas close to supermassive black hole.
Cooperation and collaboration critical.

The galaxy Messier 82, the closest example of a “starburst galaxy”, seen by NASA’s Spitzer satellite. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Herschel shows galaxies had cool beginnings

Observations from the Herschel Space Observatory have shown that galaxies in the early Universe were cooler than those we see around us today.

This indicates that early galaxies were more bloated, containing more dust, distributed over larger regions.

EnviSat captures Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Credit: ESA.

Earth Observation Town Meeting

The UK Space Agency and its Earth Observation Advisory Committee are hosting an Earth Observation Town Meeting.

Artist's impression of BIOMASS satellite. Credit: ESA.

European BIOMASS mission set for 2020 launch

The UK is set to take part in a European space mission to map and monitor the amount of biomass and carbon stored in the world’s forests.

The new mission will provide information essential to our understanding of the role of forests in Earth’s carbon cycle and in climate change.

Artist's impression of a Galileo satellite. Credit: ESA.

Should the Galileo satellite navigation system be mandatory?

The European Commission has launched a public questionnaire on how to maximise the market uptake of the EU's satellite navigation systems Galileo and EGNOS.

The Commission is seeking views on these proposals by 14 July 2014.

About

The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. The UK's thriving space sector contributes £9.1 billion a year to the UK economy and directly employs 28.900 with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%. The Agency provides funding for a range of programmes via programmes such as the National Space Technology Programme and FP7 and works closely with national and international academic, education and community partners.

Outer Space Act Licensing

Apply for a licence under the Outer Space Act (OSA).

The OSA 1986 is the legal basis for the regulation of activities in outer space carried out by organisations or individuals established in the UK or one of its Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies. View the latest consultation update.

Transparency

We are committed to providing the public with information on the performance and productivity of the organisation.