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UK Space Agency

@spacegovuk

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The UK Space Agency sets the national direction on space. Part of @biztradegovuk.

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The UK is launching a world-first mission to clean up space 🚀

A new spacecraft will remove defunct satellites from orbit, helping protect the GPS, communications and weather services we rely on every day.

Backed by more than £60 million in government funding, the mission will also build on UK strengths in satellite servicing, creating opportunities in a fast-growing global space market.

🛰️ The best bit? You can help to name the spacecraft that will lead this mission 👉 click the link in bio to enter, and comment your suggestions.

Image credit: ClearSpace by @spacegovuk

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Fancy making history?

The UK Space Agency is on the hunt for a name for its first ever national space debris removal mission. 🛰️

Led by @clearspace.today, the mission will remove two UK-registered defunct satellites from low Earth orbit, helping clean up our orbit for future generations. 🌍

If your name is chosen, it'll be etched onto the side of a real spacecraft.

Fancy giving it a go? Find out more and enter 👉 https://ow.ly/EBmY50ZY0X0 by @spacegovuk

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We're pleased to announce that we have selected @clearspace.today as prime contractor to deliver the UK's first nationally commissioned active debris removal mission, the UK Active Debris Removal mission (UK ADR). 🌍 🛰️

The mission will remove two UK-registered defunct satellites from low Earth orbit, and targeted to begin operations in 2029.

The technologies developed through ADR will help cement the UK's position at the forefront of a new generation of space services, while supporting a sustainable future for activities in space. 🌍

Read more 👉 https://clearspace.today/news/clearspace-prime-uk-active-debris-removal-contract

Image credit: ClearSpace by @spacegovuk

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It's #WorldSpaceWeek and the theme is “Rocket Revolution".🚀

Curious to know how a rocket operates?

Watch our Space Chief Technology Officer, Professor Anu Ojha explain in a lecture he gave at the @Ri_Science.

#WSW2026 by @spacegovuk

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13 days ago

October means meteors! Two showers are lighting up our skies this month. ☄️

The Orionid meteor shower, one of the best-known meteor showers of the year, returns this week as Earth passes through debris left by Halley's Comet during its last pass through our inner Solar System in 1986. It's active from 2 October right through to 7 November, peaking overnight on 21 to 22 October. 🌃

Then the Draconid Meteor Shower will be active 6 to 10 October, peaking on 9 October. These meteors come from debris left by Comet Giacobini-Zinner, entering our atmosphere at a relatively gentle 21 kilometres (13 miles) per second.

For the best view of either shower, look up between midnight and dawn when the sky is darkest.

#Meteors #Draconids #Orionids #NightSky #Stargazing #Astronomy #Space by @spacegovuk

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Happy 20th birthday, Hinode! 🛰️

Launched on 23 September 2006, this @jaxajp / @NASA /UK Space Agency / @europeanspaceagency solar observatory has spent two decades transforming our understanding of the Sun. ☀️

Hinode's 3 instruments study the Sun's magnetic field, solar eruptions, and the solar wind that shapes space weather near Earth. 🌍

@bigscience_stfc and the UK Space Agency supported the development of the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) ked by UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory in collaboration the Naval Research Laboratory in the US.

EIS discoveries include:

☀️ Pinpointing the source of the slow solar wind

☀️ New insights into solar flare dynamics

☀️ The first full-Sun density and elemental abundance maps

20 years on, Hinode and all 3 instruments are still going strong, ready for new discoveries alongside missions like Solar Orbiter. by @spacegovuk

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Planning to do a spot of stargazing this autumn? 🔭

Here are some sights to look out for:

☄️ The Orionid meteor shower will peak on 21 October and is the result of debris left by Halley’s Comet as it last passed through our inner Solar System in 1986.

🪐 Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will line up in the pre-dawn skies on 14 November. All four planets will be above the horizon, although some will be easier to spot than others.

☄️ The Leonid meteor shower peaks around 17 November when the fragments of Comet Tempel-Tuttle enter Earth’s atmosphere.

🌟 A good object to look for is the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the ‘Seven Sisters’. It is made up of hundreds of stars that sit 440 light years from Earth.

🌕 November's full Moon - known as the Beaver Moon - will also be a supermoon, reaching full phase on 24 November. It will be the first of four supermoons, running through to February 2027. 🌕 by @spacegovuk

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🌍 ☀️ We’re at @northumbriauni this week with colleagues from across the space sector, including UK Space Agency, for the fourth UK Space Weather & Space Environment meeting.

This event is an important one in the our calendar, bringing together scientists, engineers, forecasters, policymakers, and others, who are all working to strengthen UK and global understanding of, and resilience to, space weather.

With RAL Space colleagues contributing to the meeting as organisers, speakers, chairs, and attendees, we look forward to connecting with partners across the community to discuss this crucial topic.

#Space #SpaceWeather #SolarPhysics taken in Newcastle upon Tyne by @spacegovuk

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We have lift off on the UK space strategy – and no, it’s not just about moon landings.

Space technology helps power services we rely on every day, from communications and navigation to weather forecasting and infrastructure.

How many of these did you know rely on space tech?

📍 GPS and maps
☀️ Weather forecasts
📱 Mobile phone signals
🚆 Train WiFi
✈️ Air travel navigation by @spacegovuk

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Hear me roar! 🦁

The JWST's NIRCam and MIRI instruments recently captured this stunning image of NGC 2392, better known as the Lion Nebula.

This near- and mid-infrared composite reveals the intricate structure formed by a dying star, with the white dwarf stellar resembling the nose of the lion.

It's taken thousands of years for gas and dust to be shaped this way, and it's still changing. Astronomers reckon this nebula will fully disperse in around 10,000 years.

The UK led the science behind Webb's MIRI instrument, which keeps bringing us some of the most breath-taking views of our galaxy yet. 🌌

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) by @spacegovuk

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How well does Tim Peake remember his mission to space? 🤔🌌

Ten years on from Mission Principia, he joined us for an inspiring day of talks. He shared stories from his time on the ISS, talked to local students and participated in our what's-in-the-box challenge, identifying these six mystery artefacts 👩‍🚀

Watch the full video on YouTube now, link in bio 🚀

#space #timpeake #astronaut by @spacegovuk

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Attention, stargazers! 🔭

There will be a partial lunar eclipse in the early hours of Friday 28 August! ☀️ 🌍 🌒

The eclipse will begin at 3.33am and reach its maximum at 5.12am, when approximately 90% of the Moon will sit within Earth's umbra.

image credit: NASA A lunar eclipse showing a bright white crescent on the left and a deep coppery-red shadow across the rest of the moon. by @spacegovuk

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