ESA Smile is set to launch next Tuesday! 🚀
The mission will give us the first complete picture of how Earth's magnetic field responds to the solar wind, improving predictions of solar storms that can disrupt GPS, communications and power grids. 🛰️
The UK Space Agency has invested £15 million in the mission. Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL is leading the science, while the University of Leicester has developed the first instrument ever to observe Earth's magnetic field in X-rays.
ESA Smile launches next Tuesday at 4:52am UK time.
🎥 Hear more from our Head of Space Science, Dr Caroline Harper.
Meet Messier 77 - a barred spiral galaxy 45 million light-years away, captured in stunning detail by the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). 🌌 📸
At its core lies a supermassive black hole eight million times the mass of our Sun, pulling in gas, heating it to extreme temperatures, and releasing enormous amounts of radiation, forming what's known as an active galactic nucleus. 🌌
MIRI also reveals M77's starburst ring, a vast loop more than 6,000 light-years across where new stars are forming at extraordinary rates, visible as glowing orange bubbles tracing the galaxy's spiral arms. The blue haze is interstellar dust, captured at longer wavelengths, swirling in vast filaments throughout the galaxy's disc.
The UK led on the design and build for MIRI, which “sees” faint infrared light invisible to the human eye and peers far into the past observing very distant galaxies and newly forming stars and planets. 🪐 ✨
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy
The Sustainable Markets Initiative proudly joined its Founder, His Majesty King Charles III, during last week’s historic State Visit to the United States and His Majesty's first visit as King to Bermuda, a U.K. Overseas Territory.
In Washington, D.C., SMI CEO Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, engaged with SMI CEO members and cross-sector leaders at the Garden Party hosted by U.K. Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christian Turner.
In New York City, alongside His Majesty, the SMI engaged with CEOs across Finance and Industry at a UK–US Trade & Business event hosted at the Rockefeller Center.
The gathering underscored one of the world’s most significant economic relationships and reinforced shared commitments to accelerating innovative pathways for a sustainable transition.
In Bermuda, the SMI convened global insurance leaders at a CEO Roundtable to explore the feasibility of a Commonwealth Insurance Mutual.
This initiative represents a meaningful contribution to mobilizing finance solutions to tackle extreme weather risks and resilience in the most vulnerable Commonwealth nations.
Also in Bermuda, His Majesty unveiled a plaque for Project Nova with the @spacegovuk , proudly featuring the Astra Carta seal. The Project will focus on tracking space debris with new telescopes as part of a safer and more sustainable future in space. The Astra Carta, launched by His Majesty in 2023, provides an ambitious framework to inspire a default sustainable approach to the growing space economy. We were also delighted to watch a message from Artemis II Astronaut @astrojeremy on his return journey from the moon, highlighting the letter His Majesty sent him on Astra Carta principles as part of this historic mission.
These visits have demonstrated the extraordinary convening and unifying power of our Founder. It has also shown how the SMI continues in its high ambition mission to achieve a sustainable future and to seize The Growth Story of Our Time.
@theroyalfamily #TheSMI #SMITerraCarta #SMIAstraCarta
Out of this world! 🪐✨
As a special surprise during His Majesty’s last engagement in Bermuda, The King was shown a video message from Canadian astronaut Colonel Jeremy Hansen, filmed during his journey around the moon on Artemis II. @AstroJeremy thanked The King for his well wishes and reflections on environmental stewardship, ahead of their historic mission. 🌒
In a bid to ensure space is safe and clutter-free, the UK Space Agency (@spacegovuk ) is launching “Project Nova” – installing five telescopes sites worldwide to track space debris and support international sustainability.
🇧🇲 Bermuda is the first of those locations – and this morning, The King officially launched the project.
In 2022, The King’s @SustainableMarketsInitiative launched the ‘Astra Carta’ to act as a framework to inspire sustainability across the space industry.
Space is vital for solving some of the biggest challenges we face, and the UK's pioneering efforts in Earth observation and space technology are working to combat climate change. ♻️🏞️🌱
We joined @astro_nicole at the Earth Day 2026 Piccadilly Lights display in London - a stunning moment highlighting how space missions are driving climate action. 🌍
📸: @francescaapage
The Lyrid meteor shower peaks tonight, which occurs as Earth passes through the material left behind comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. ☄️
To get a good view:
🌆 Get as far from light as possible
👀 Let your eyes adjust to the dark
🕛 Spot more meteors after midnight.
The ESA SMILE mission will help us understand how we can better protect our critical infrastructure from solar weather. ☀️
The UK is playing a pivotal role in this ambitious science mission, leading on a key instrument and co-leading the science. 🛰️
🎥 Hear from Dr Steven Sembay from the @uniofleicester on what makes the SMILE mission unique.
For the first time, scientists will soon have a complete picture of how Earth responds to the solar wind - and the UK is at the heart of making it happen. ☀️
ESA's SMILE mission will revolutionise space weather forecasting, helping protect the critical systems we rely on every day, including satellite navigation, communications, and power infrastructure. 🛰️
British researchers have led the development of the soft X-ray imager (SXI), one of four scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft.
🎥 Hear from Dr Jennifer Carter, Research Fellow at the @uniofleicester .
On 13 April 2029, an asteroid roughly 375 metres across will pass closer to Earth than our own satellites. 🪨
Apophis – named after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction – was once considered one of the most dangerous asteroids ever detected, with a 2.7% chance of hitting Earth when discovered in 2004. 🌍
The @europeanspaceagency 's Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses), developed in collaboration with @jaxajp , will fly alongside it during the close approach, watching in real time as Earth's gravity reshapes the asteroid's physical characteristics. The findings will help protect our planet from future threats.
Image credit: ESA
Tiny worms. Huge impact.
A crew of microscopic organisms is now orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station—helping scientists understand how life adapts in space.
At Space Park Leicester, we designed and built the Petri Pod - a miniature lab enabling this groundbreaking experiment.
This pioneering mission - led by the University of Exeter comes at a critical moment, following Artemis II and the next phase of human exploration of the Moon.
As humanity prepares for missions beyond Earth, research like this is shaping how we live and work in space.
🔗 More at space-park.co.uk
#SpaceParkCommunity #SpaceScience #Innovation #LifeInSpace @spacegovuk@uniofexeter@uniofleicesterphysics@uniofleicester
Homeward bound. 🌍
After 10 days in space, the Artemis II crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego tomorrow at 1:07 am BST.
Find out where to watch their return live 👉 https://nasa.gov/ways-to-watch/
Credit: NASA
Space Worms are go! 🪱🚀
A crew of microscopic worms is launching to the International Space Station - and they're on a mission that could shape the future of human space exploration.
The experiment, led by the @uniofexeter , built by the @uniofleicester at @spaceparkleic , and funded by the UK Space Agency, will study how living organisms respond to the extreme conditions of space: microgravity, radiation, and the physical toll of long-duration travel - critical knowledge ahead of NASA's Artemis Moon missions. 🌘
The mission launches tomorrow at 12:41pm BST on NASA's Northrop Grumman CRS-24 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 🚀
Watch the launch 👉 /launches/ng24
