A £100 million ($130m) space research, innovation and teaching centre developed by the University of Leicester with local, national and international partners opened on Monday.
The 9,700 square-metre building provides a base for space researchers and business minds to work together from offices, shared laboratories, teaching areas and co-working spaces.
Space Park Leicester houses laboratories, workshops and calibration equipment along with high-tech projects such as the pioneering double-walled insulator for the Mars Sample Return 2026 Nasa-European Space Agency Mission.
It is also home to one of the UK’s largest clean rooms for assembling and testing space equipment.
Other workshops allow researcher to expand work in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, while engineers have access to a drone lab.
Space Park Leicester also hosts the headquarters of the Natural Environment Research Council-affiliated National Centre for Earth Observation.
The complex is expected to boost the regional economy by £750m a year and create 2,500 jobs.
Esa astronaut Tim Peake opened Space Park Leicester.
“Leicester has long been a key location for the UK’s space sector and it is a real privilege to formally open Space Park Leicester just a short distance away from the National Space Centre," Mr Peake said.
“Every successful space mission calls for experts from a wide range of backgrounds to pull together and collaborate to answer bigger questions, and that’s exactly what somewhere like Space Park Leicester helps to provide.
“I’m also excited to see this project highlighting the exciting careers available within the space sector and helping to train, educate and inspire our future generations."
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From launching the first Arab mission to the Moon to looking into the early universe using the world’s most powerful telescope – the new year is going to be a busy one for space exploration. The National looks at some of the most exciting missions scheduled for 2022. Photo: Nasa -
Engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre have been planning a Moon mission since 2017. They have built a 10-kilogram rover called Rashid that will study lunar soil and its properties. It is scheduled for a launch sometime between August to December 2022. Photo: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre -
The final prototype of the UAE's Rashid Moon rover. Photo: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre -
Two Emirati candidate astronauts are to begin training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, in January. Mohammed Al Mulla, a Dubai Police helicopter pilot, and Nora Al Matrooshi, a mechanical engineer, will spend two years in training. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla will learn the systems of the International Space Station, the Russian language, robotics and how to perform spacewalks. Once they graduate, both astronauts would become eligible for space missions. AP -
Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla are the generation of astronauts that could go to the Moon one day. The UAE has its sights set on human missions to the lunar surface. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
US space agency Nasa is preparing the space launch system and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 launch on March 12, which will involve a three-week, uncrewed test flight to the Moon. AFP / Nasa -
During the mission, the Orion spacecraft will fly 100 kilometres above the Moon’s surface and then use its gravitation force to become captured in an opposite orbit about 70,000 kilometres from the Moon. EPA / Nasa -
Completion of China’s space station is scheduled for the end of 2022. The Tiangong’s core module Tianhe is already in orbit and has been hosting astronauts, including Wang Yaping, its first female astronaut. Xinhua / AP -
Wang Yaping was sent to the station earlier this year. On November 8, the 41-year-old also became the first Chinese female astronaut to perform a spacewalk. Xinhua / AP -
South Korea plans to launch its first lunar mission in 2022. The Korea Pathfinder orbiter will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Photo: Korea Aerospace Research Agency -
The James Webb Space Telescope will be capable of 'looking back' 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies of the universe and search for signs of life. It was launched on Saturday, December 25, 2021, and it is expected to make several discoveries when it becomes operational in 2022. Reuters
To date, organisations joining space, climate and Earth observation scientists include: nuclear propulsion experts Rolls-Royce; AST SpaceMobile, developers of the first space-based cellular broadband network for mobile phones; Satellite Applications Catapult, a government-backed technology and innovation company; and air-quality specialists EarthSense.
“We are delighted that Space Park Leicester, even before today’s formal opening, has already shown itself to be the ideal launchpad for cutting-edge space science research and enterprise," said Prof Richard Ambrosi, the park's executive director.
“By hosting forward-thinking university researchers and high-end technology businesses under one roof, Space Park Leicester enables accelerated collaboration on some of the biggest questions of our time: not least the climate crisis.
“Space, by its very nature, feels very far away from our everyday lives here on Earth, but the work undertaken here has the potential to transform almost every aspect of society, from health care to the technology in our mobile phones."
