Space Agency centre for UK
Nov 27 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
A EUROPEAN Space Agency research centre will be established in the UK following an agreement made yesterday by Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Drayson.
Lord Drayson and ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain signed an agreement in principle to secure an ESA research centre in the UK at the ESA Ministerial taking place this week at The Hague.
The research centre will be based at the Harwell science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire and could be up and running within a year.
Once established, ESA money will be directed to fund new work on climate change modelling that uses space data and the development of technologies for a new era of planetary exploration, including robotics and novel power sources.
Lord Drayson said: “This centre represents a first for the UK. It will direct more ESA business and funding to our shores, which of course is very important for our economy – but also the establishment of a new ESA centre is extremely encouraging for British scientists working in space science as they will have closer involvement in international space programmes.”
During the two-day ministerial meeting, Lord Drayson also committed to invest £82m in the ESA’s flagship Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programmes in a package of UK subscriptions totaling over £300m.
Lord Drayson said: “The greatest challenge facing our generation is climate change. Despite the global economic downturn, it is vital that we increase the pace of research in this area. The GMES programme offers a crucial tool to aid our understanding and monitoring of climate change variables.
“I am pleased to have announced the UK’s commitment to the second segment of the programme at the Ministerial today. The UK is the fourth highest contributor to the European Space Agency’s programmes, and I’m determined that we remain a significant player in European space.”
The ESA programme includes a satellite mission to measure the chemicals in the atmosphere and it is expected that the hi-tech UK space industry will play a leading role in developing the satellites for the programme.
