Space Minister was in Brussels today (22
May 2024), where he witnessed the signing of a major industrial
contract that will see Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage
building Europe's flagship space weather mission, Vigil.
Space Weather – which recently created displays of the Northern
Lights over UK skies - can potentially disrupt technology on
Earth and threaten equipment in space and at high altitude, which
is why it features prominently on the National Risk
Register.
Due to launch in 2031, the Vigil mission will improve the ability
to accurately forecast space weather, with a spacecraft set to be
placed into a solar orbit where it can observe the Sun, the Earth
and the space in between.
This vantage point will enable early warning about incoming solar
storms which will allow appropriate alerting and protective
measures to be taken in time to minimise their
impact.
Vigil will sustain more than 150 highly skilled jobs in the UK
and reinforces Airbus UK's position as a space prime, covering
complete missions from spacecraft design and build to
comprehensive verification and final delivery.
MP, Minister for Space at
the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,
said:
The development of the Vigil space weather mission, right here on
British soil in Stevenage, is a testament to our central role
within the European Space Agency and our world-class expertise in
space manufacturing.
This mission will improve our space weather forecasts, protect
satellites and the critical services they provide on Earth, and
help build a safer, more sustainable future for space activities.
Vigil will also carry a plasma analyser from the UCL Mullard
Space Science Laboratory and a magnetometer from Imperial College
London. The Met Office will use the data from Vigil to offer more
accurate forecasts, which also feeds into the UK's
new National Space Operations
Centre.
Wider international contributions include instruments led by NASA
and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and Leonardo in
Belgium and Italy.
Patrick Wood, Head of Space Systems UK, Airbus Defence and Space,
said:
Vigil is one of the most exciting and important space missions
that will not only improve our understanding of the Sun's
behaviour but crucially provide us with earlier warning and
greater precision about potentially damaging solar weather. Space
weather forecasters will be able to see what is coming from the
Sun and provide more accurate alerts.
Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, said:
Vigil will be Europe's first 24/7 operational space weather
satellite, providing valuable time to protect critical
infrastructure such as power grids or mobile communication
networks on Earth as well as valuable satellites in Earth orbit,
including the International Space Station (ISS).
Vigil will drastically improve both the lead time of space
weather warnings as well as their level of detail from its unique
vantage point in deep space.
While in Brussels, the Minister also signed the Zero Debris
Charter, recognising the contribution of ESA to this global
initiative which encourages space organisations to work together
to minimise the generation of debris in orbit.
As set out in the National Space Strategy, ESA is a close partner
for the UK in space science, exploration, climate monitoring, and
technical collaboration. It provides a powerful platform for
sharing knowledge, technical expertise, and resources to achieve
shared goals and contribute to global space endeavours.
The UK hosts the European Centre for Space Applications and
Telecommunications (ECSAT) and the ESA Climate Office on the
Harwell Science Campus in Oxfordshire, alongside the new
headquarters of the UK Space Agency.
