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European Space Agency arrives in Oxfordshire

22 July 2009

In a remarkable first for the UK, the European Space Agency (ESA) today opened its first facility at Harwell in Oxfordshire.

The facility is expected to be a key element of a much-wider vision for the future of the UK's fast-growing space economy which will see the creation of an International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell, where state-of-the-art publicly-funded scientific facilities will operate alongside industrial R&D. ISIC will bring together academia and industry dedicated to the innovation of space science, research and technology.

'One of the ambitions is to get a better flow of thinking and ideas across existing boundaries,' said David Williams, Director General of the British National Space Centre.

The ESA facility will focus on three key areas:

• Combining data and images from space satellites to create new applications for everyday life, such as automatic safety-of-life location services and ways of using space data to improve road and rail transportation.
• Climate change modelling that uses space data to help us understand and predict the impact climate change is having on our home planet.
• The development of new technologies such as the novel power sources and innovative robotics which we can use to explore the Moon and Mars, and help us answer many questions we have about the composition and structure of these celestial bodies.

These key areas build on world-leading strengths in the UK's successful space programme managed by the British National Space Centre (BNSC).

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director-General of ESA, said: 'It is testament to the expertise and skills of the UK space workforce that ESA has chosen the UK for the location of its latest facility.'

Speaking at the launch event in London, Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, said, 'Among the activities soon underway at Harwell will be work supporting ESA's new exploration programme: not only in robotics but, potentially, a facility to collect materials returned from other planets.

'Just as important is the unit dedicated to finding new opportunities for applying space and non-space systems to Earth-based challenges: improving public transport services, tackling national emergencies or supporting next-generation medical care. It will have a business incubator centre attached.

'But I would highlight the climate change unit at Harwell - a focal point for ESA's work on satellite-based Earth observation - as especially significant.

'Satellites represent the only way to monitor gradual environmental change on a global level. ESA's GMES initiative will improve climate change modelling through land, marine and atmospheric analysis.

'It dovetails with the UK's new 33-million-pound National Centre for Earth Observation, building on expertise in the carbon cycle, seismology and flood prediction at 26 UK universities and research centres.'

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is BNSC's lead partner for Earth observation and climate change research. NERC invests around £50m every year on Earth observation. This includes the UK's subscription to the European Space Agency's Earth observation programme, working with other space agencies, such as the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), and funding its own Earth observation centres of excellence. The National Centre for Earth Observation is one of its collaborative centres.

More information:

Lord Drayson announces launch of ESA facility in the UK

Briefing note: 03/09