The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has announced an allocation of £7 million under the Space Science Exploration Bilateral Programme.
The seven projects involve the universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge, Leicester (twice), Royal Holloway, Sussex and the Open University.
For example, Royal Holloway will help develop software for the Indian Space Agency’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan 2 orbiter. This will detect ice beneath the surface of the moon’s south pole. Shukrayan then becomes the map plane of Venus.
In another project, the University of Leicester will lead the Raman spectroscopy instrument for iSpace’s commercial rover and lander mission, which will once again investigate water ice on the moon. The goal is to help understand whether this is a resource that can be used for long-term lunar exploration.
“Our investment of more than £7m will support the discovery of space, from the exploration of water on Mars and the potential for sustained human activity on the Red Planet, to how galaxies have evolved over time. We are pushing the boundaries and putting the UK at the heart of space discovery.’The most important global space mission’ Said Andrew Griffiths MP, UK Minister for Space, Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
“Britain’s top universities from Sussex to Aberdeen are leading these ground-breaking initiatives, and our country is working with partners in Japan, India, North America and around the world to explore beyond our planet and grow our economy. It is at the center of growth.”
project
The project and its funding are described by UKSA as follows:
chandrayaan 2 and shukrayan (Royal Holloway and ISRO, India) – £306,000
Development of multiband radar processing and analysis software for missions to detect subsurface ice at the Moon’s south pole and map the surface of Venus.
star x (University of Leicester and NASA, USA) – £650,000
High-level scientific data products accessible via a web portal and UK data archive for the study of the formation of the universe using time-domain methods and ‘multi-messenger’ astrophysics.
FIR mission (University of Sussex and NASA, USA) – £1.1m
Providing superconducting detectors, detector systems, optics, filters, and data pipelines for potential exploration missions investigating the formation of planetary systems and the evolution of galaxies.
habit (University of Aberdeen and JAXA, Japan) – £320,000
Providing equipment to monitor air and surface temperature, wind, humidity, and salt hydration for Mars rovers/landers that study water circulation, chemistry, and habitability.
Aimim (Open University and CSA, Canada) – £2 million
A high-performance detector for the Mars Multispectral and Stereo Imager for the International Mars Ice Mapper mission to map accessible water ice deposits on the Martian surface.
moon spectroscopy (University of Leicester and iSpace, Japan) – £1.5 million
We will lead the development of Raman analysis spectroscopy equipment based on Raman laser spectrometers for commercial small lunar landers and lunar surface probes that explore the lunar surface to utilize space resources.
cosmo cube (University of Cambridge and NASA, USA) – £1.5 million
Leads the CuboSatellite project, payload, science, mission, and space platform to deploy a high-precision radiometer to measure the spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background radiation in space.
moon, mars, venus
UKSA’s announcement coincided with the ongoing Global Space Technology Conference (GSTC) in Singapore, which was attended by a British delegation.
Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said: “These projects are an important contribution to UK science on ground-breaking global missions that will improve our understanding of the Moon and our neighboring planets. This is an opportunity to do so.”
“The World Space Technology Conference in Singapore is the ideal venue to share this news and showcase the benefits of expanding our efforts with global partners,” he added.
Image: INTA/UVA – British camera used in the ExoMars Raman laser spectrometer
See also: UKSA funds Westcott on-orbit services and manufacturing facility
