News
Welcome to the UK Space Agency's News and Events pages.
Please select a news release from our latest news section or visit our events calendar relating to space activities in the UK and overseas.
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4 Apr 2013
This weekend saw the fifth annual UK Space Design Competition, where almost 200 school students competed to come up with the best design for a spaceport in lunar orbit. The winners will go on to compete in an international final at NASA later this year. The UK round of the competition is organised by Imperial College London and sponsored by the UK Space Agency.
2 Apr 2013
The internal structure of a human cell in simulated gravity taken on the International Space Station.
27 Mar 2013
The UK Space Agency is pleased to announce new chairpersons for two of its advisory committees: the Science Programme Advisory Committee (SPAC) and Space Exploration Advisory Committee (SEAC).
27 Mar 2013
The UK’s recent decision to subscribe to the European Space Agency’s ELIPS (European Life and Physical Sciences) programme has opened the way for UK-based researchers to participate in this unique, cross-disciplinary programme, making use of a diverse range of facilities including centrifuges, parabolic flights and bedrest facilities. This meeting will examine the bedrest facilities: how they are managed, how ESA defines AOs and selects experiments, and how UK researchers might get involved.
27 Mar 2013
On Friday 22 March, 120 student experiments were launched 30km up into Earth's atmosphere on two high altitude balloons. The experiments experienced temperatures as low as -50°C, pressures 0.6% of that at sea level and increased levels of radiation - conditions which are very close to that of the surface of Mars.
22 Mar 2013
The Open University hosted the UK Space Agency's Steering Board for its meeting on 19 March.
21 Mar 2013
Europe’s Planck satellite - a flagship mission for the UK Space Agency - has compiled the most detailed map ever created of the cosmic microwave background (the relic radiation from the Big Bang). The new map refines our understanding of the Universe’s composition and evolution, and unveils new features that could challenge the foundations of our current understanding of its evolution.
18 Mar 2013
ESA and Roscosmos have signed a formal agreement to work in partnership on the ExoMars programme towards the launch of two missions in 2016 and 2018.
18 Mar 2013
Academics, research fellows, postdocs and PhD students are encouraged to attend, as well as other stakeholders and industrial participants. The European Space Agency’s ELIPS (European Life and Physical Sciences) programme presents new opportunities for UK researchers and this workshop will examine the facilities, application procedures, ELIPS and STFC science overlaps, and bring together the UK community who could benefit from ELIPS science.
15 Mar 2013
The launch of the first ever Higher Apprenticeship in Space Engineering was announced today (15 March 2013) by Loughborough College and the National Space Academy.
12 Mar 2013
X-ray camera technology developed by researchers at the University of Leicester, for capturing black holes, is now being used to explore a new frontier: it is helping us to get up close to viruses on Earth, opening the door to solving medical problems.
12 Mar 2013
This stunning image shows off the beautiful Pearl-Qatar in Doha, Qatar. Spanning nearly four million square metres, upon completion, this artificial island will create over 32 kilometres of new coastline and be home to 45,000 residents by 2015.
8 Mar 2013
The UK Space Agency and the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KAZCOSMOS) have today (7 March 2013) signed an agreement outlining cooperation in the area of space activities.
6 Mar 2013
Space: Inspiration, impact and growth - making it happen.
5 Mar 2013
UK industrial team looking at the UK's future needs for launch systems and facilities.
5 Mar 2013
Europe’s Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks, after spending more than three exciting years studying the cool Universe.
5 Mar 2013
Students from across Europe have been selected as winners of the Cassini Scientist for a Day 2012 competition. Coordinated by ESA, national competitions were held in several European countries, including the UK.
1 Mar 2013
Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd April, teams around the UK will be participating in the International Space Apps Challenge, bringing together people on every continent to find innovative uses for satellite data in solving everyday problems.
1 Mar 2013
Tweet the Expert is back for Climate Week and National Science and Engineering Week. Get your questions answered live by our experts!
27 Feb 2013
Mercury mission is baked at space test facility.
25 Feb 2013
The UK's first CubeSat, STRaND-1, successfully launched into space today, flying the world's first smartphone in orbit. Launched from India, on the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) PSLV launcher, the satellite hosts a Google Nexus One smartphone, a new Linux-based high-speed processor and attitude & orbit control system, and two novel propulsion systems (8 pulsed plasma thrusters and a water-alcohol propulsion system).
25 Feb 2013
This image captured by ESA’s Mars Express on 13 January shows some of the similarities between regions on Mars with those on our home planet. This natural colour view of the southeast corner of the Amenthes Planum features craters, lava channels and a valley from which water may have once flowed.
22 Feb 2013
Astrium has successfully completed thermal testing of the Alphasat telecommunications satellite.
21 Feb 2013
A UK led-led instrument has been selected to fly on Europe’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, due for launch in 2022.
21 Feb 2013
Europe’s Herschel space observatory has detected a cool layer in the atmosphere of Alpha Centauri A, the first time this has been seen in a star beyond our own Sun. The finding is not only important for understanding the Sun’s activity, but could also help in the quest to discover proto-planetary systems around other stars.
