UK Space Agency

27/10/2026

Protecting Our Planet Day is coming up!

Join schools across the UK for this free, live-streamed day of talks and activities showing how space science helps protect our planet. Organised by us, ESERO UK and ESA - European Space Agency.

📅 19 November
⏰ 8:50am - 5:00pm

Register 👇

Live streamed schools event with sessions & class activities from passionate people working to protect our planet both on Earth & in Space!

20/10/2026

Happy launch anniversary to BepiColombo, which began its mission to Mercury on this day in 2018. 🚀

A collaboration between ESA - European Space Agency and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), BepiColombo will increase our understanding of the planet's composition, structure, and atmosphere. 🌕

The spacecraft is due to arrive at Mercury on 21 November. 🛰️

BepiColombo was made possible by UK science and engineering, with instruments, spacecraft structures and propulsion designed and built here. 🛰️

Read more about the UK's involvement in the mission 👉 https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/bepicolombo

Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab / NASA/JPL

15/10/2026

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 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://space.blog.gov.uk/2026/10/15/name-the-uk-space-agencys-first-national-mission-%f0%9f%9b%b0%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%8c%8d/

15/10/2026

We're pleased to announce that we have selected ClearSpace 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

06/10/2026

It's World Space Week 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 Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Watch the full lecture here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kCdY8o8cFI&t=232s

01/10/2026

October brings meteors galore! Two spectacular showers are set to light up the night sky 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. 🌃

The Draconid Meteor Shower will be active from 6 to 10 October, peaking on 9 October. It's caused by fragments of debris from Comet Giacobini-Zinner entering our atmosphere at a relatively slow 21 kilometres (13 miles) per second.

The best time to catch either shower is between midnight and dawn, when the sky is at its darkest. Wrap up warm, find a spot away from bright lights, and look up. 👀

19/09/2026

Planning to do a spot of stargazing this autumn? 🔭

Here are some sights to look out for:

☄️ Orionid and Leonid meteor showers
🪐 A planetary parade
⭐ The Pleiades star cluster
🌕 The Beaver supermoon

Read more (via BBC News) 👇

From meteor showers to a November supermoon, there are a number of impressive sights to behold in the autumn night sky.

18/09/2026

Join schools across the UK for Protecting Our Planet Day (POP) on Thursday 19 November - a free, live-streamed day of talks, activities and interactive sessions showing how space science helps protect our planet.🌍

Organised by ESERO-UK at STEM Learning, in collaboration with the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency, Protecting Our Planet Day (POP) brings the world of space science into classrooms, connecting young people with the science, technology and careers helping us tackle some of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet. 🌳🌊

Find out more and register 👉

Live streamed schools event with sessions & class activities from passionate people working to protect our planet both on Earth & in Space!

17/09/2026

Want to learn more about Europe's ambitious space plans? 🚀

Register your place at ESA - European Space Agency's Open Day at the Harwell campus, Oxfordshire, to see how ESA is using space technology to improve daily life and push the boundaries of exploration. The event features a packed programme of talks and hands-on demonstrations, delivered by scientists, engineers and UK ESA astronauts. ⭐

Tickets are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so secure your spot now. 👉 https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/United_Kingdom/Register_now_to_attend_ESA_s_open_day_in_the_UK

20/08/2026

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