Space Park Leicester adds £73m a year to UK economy and supports 400 jobs

More than 400 jobs in Leicester now depend on Space Park Leicester, the University of Leicester’s £100 million space research and innovation campus. Its latest annual review also puts the value of the goods and services it generates for the UK economy at £73 million a year, East Midlands Business Link reports.

The jobs cover space exploration, satellite technology and Earth observation. More than 25 organisations are based on the campus, which is the second-largest space innovation hub in the UK.

Record research funding

Organisations at the site secured a record £19.7 million in research funding over the past year.

The £10 million Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space continued to grow. It won a £1 million doctoral award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and has set up 42 research positions on humanity’s relationship with space.

Leicester researchers also won more than €2 million from the European Research Council to study giant planets using the James Webb Space Telescope.

Science from Leicester

• Microscopic worms were sent to the International Space Station to study the effects of spaceflight on muscle health and ageing. The work could also help medical research on Earth.
• Scientists identified three giant exoplanets and built a satellite-based asteroid classification catalogue.
• Researchers helped develop a new carbon-monitoring satellite, designed to improve measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and plant photosynthesis.

The European Space Agency’s SMILE mission has launched successfully. Its Soft X-ray Imager was the first complete space instrument delivered using Space Park Leicester’s facilities. SMILE will make the first X-ray observations of Earth’s magnetic field, helping scientists understand how the solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere and, in time, space weather.

Will Wells, Chief Executive Officer of Space Park Leicester, said the campus had secured new international and UK investors over the year. The US-based Universities Space Research Association has also set up its first European base there, which he called “a fantastic endorsement” of Leicester’s growing international position in space research and innovation.

He added that the park is “helping turn research excellence into businesses, investment, jobs and productivity”.

Plans for the year ahead

Space Park Leicester plans to expand its research programmes and commercial partnerships, and to offer more student placements and graduate opportunities. It will also develop its educational programmes for domestic and international markets, and strengthen collaboration between government, industry, investors and researchers.

Source: East Midlands Business Link