UK space festival enjoys stellar success

The festival launched space enthusiasts of all ages on a journey from our home planet to the outer reaches of the Solar System and beyond, demonstrating how satellites are improving life on Earth as well as delivering unprecedented insight into other worlds.

It also showcased the excellent contributions of the UK to ESA’s space programmes.

The event opened with a keynote from British ESA astronaut reserve Meganne Christian, who recounted the experiences that led to her selection, including spending a full year completing research at the Concordia station in Antarctica.

Meganne was one of three British applicants to be recruited into ESA’s 2022 class of astronauts, along with astronaut candidate Rosemary Coogan and John McFall, who is taking part in ESA’s Fly! Feasibility Study.

A wide variety of experts from across the space industry joined Meganne at the festival, with many speakers highlighting ambitious ESA programmes and missions.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd presented the upcoming Lunar Pathfinder satellite, which is set to provide lunar communications services in preparation for the hundreds of commercial and institutional missions expected to target the Moon in the coming decades.

Lunar Pathfinder is a first step towards ESA’s Moonlight programme to create a lunar network of commercial communications and data relay satellites.

Also highlighted was ESA’s Juice mission, which launched in April to begin its epic eight-year voyage to Jupiter, where it will spend four years probing the secrets of the giant planet and its icy moons.

Attendees enjoyed a recap of the mission’s objectives, its state-of-the-art instruments, and the tantalising discoveries that might await scientists in the jovian system.

Closer to home, Earth-orbiting satellites are providing detailed information on every aspect of the planet’s changing environment – from its icecaps to its oceans, and everything in between.

An interactive application developed by ESA gave visitors the chance to explore Earth through the eyes of remote sensing missions and learn how space data is supporting the global drive to tackle the climate emergency.

Using space to boost education was also an important objective of the festival.

The UK Space Agency’s Space for Everyone tour – which has been making its way across the country – arrived at the National Space Centre to showcase the space industry and the diverse array of career and learning opportunities available to young people.

The tour brought with it a 20-metre replica of the LauncherOne rocket that took off from Spaceport Cornwall in January.

In addition, Meganne Christian’s participation in the festival marked the start of her new role as the UK Space Agency’s Reserve Astronaut & Exploration Commercialisation Lead, in which she will work on exploration projects and support programmes to inspire students about STEM fields and careers in the space industry.

The UK in Space Festival was held on 2 July at the National Space Centre in Leicester.