![]() |
David Frederick Williams (born 21 September 1951) is a former Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency.
He went to the Hutton Grammar School on Liverpool Road in Hutton, Preston, Lancashire. From the University of Reading he gained a BSc in 1974 and a PhD in 1978. [1]
He worked for the NERC from 1982 to 1989. From 1989, he worked for the BNSC. [2]
He became Director General of the BNSC on 1 May 2006.
He became Acting Chief Executive, UK Space Agency & Chairman of the ESA Council. On 23 March 2010, the new UK Space Agency was launched to replace the British National Space Centre and to bring all UK civil space activities under one single management. He will steer the ESA Council as it prepares for the next meeting of ESA's Ministers in 2012. [3]
On 3 August 2012, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced [4] that Dr Williams had been appointed to the role of CSIRO Group Executive, Information Sciences, based in Sydney, Australia.
In 1985 he married Jeannie Rickards. They have a son and two daughters.[ citation needed ]
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 22-member intergovernmental body devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,200 people globally as of 2018, ESA was founded in 1975. By 2023, it will have an annual budget of about €7.08 billion.
The Canadian Space Agency is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the Canadian Space Agency Act.
Robert Brent "Bob" Thirsk, is a Canadian retired engineer and physician, and a former Canadian Space Agency astronaut. He holds the Canadian record for the most time spent in space. He became an officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2013 and was named to the Order of British Columbia (OBC) in 2012.
The British National Space Centre (BNSC) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom. It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the UK Space Agency.
Dafydd "David" Rhys Williams is a Canadian physician, public speaker, author and retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight, STS-90 in 1998, was a 16-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia dedicated to neuroscience research. His second flight, STS-118 in August 2007, was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. During that mission he performed three spacewalks, becoming the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk and setting a Canadian record for total number of spacewalks. These spacewalks combined for a total duration of 17 hours and 47 minutes.
Dirk Dries David Damiaan, Viscount Frimout is an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency. He flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-45 as a payload specialist, making him the first Belgian in space.
Edward Michael "Mike"/"Spanky" Fincke is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space. His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015.
Thomas Arthur Reiter is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the German Air Force currently working as ESA Interagency Coordinator and Advisor to the Director General at the European Space Agency (ESA). He was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space. With his wife and two sons he lives near Oldenburg in Lower Saxony.
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.
The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens."
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy.
HYLAS is a British satellite in geostationary orbit. HYLAS, which is an acronym for Highly Adaptable Satellite, is a communications satellite and was launched by the European Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana. It is located at the orbital location of 33.5 degrees west and will provide new and innovative services including High Definition Television (HDTV) and interactive satellite delivered broadband services. The satellite will help address the issue of poor broadband coverage in many parts of Europe which have less developed ground infrastructure.
The Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment (MoonLITE), was a proposed British space mission to explore the Moon and develop techniques for future space exploration. If funded, it would have been built by a consortium of UK industry likely including Surrey Satellite Technology, and it was planned to be launched into lunar orbit in 2014. The mission concept emerged from a study run by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in 2006. In December 2008, the British National Space Centre announced that the project was moving to a 12-month Phase A study of the mission systems and the planned penetrators.
David Saint-Jacques is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician.
Major Timothy "Tim" Nigel Peake is a British author, Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency astronaut.
Andreas Enevold Mogensen is a Danish engineer and ESA astronaut who is best known for being the first Dane to fly in space as part of the European Space Agency's iriss program. Mogensen has also been involved in a number of other space-related projects throughout his career, including working as a test engineer for ESTEC and as a member of the European Astronaut Corps. In addition to his work with the ESA, he has also worked with NASA and other international space agencies. Mogensen returned to space in August 2023 for his second spaceflight to the ISS onboard SpaceX Crew Dragon as the first non-American to serve as a pilot.
The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and took over responsibility for government policy and key budgets for space exploration; it represents the United Kingdom in all negotiations on space matters. The Agency "[brings] together all UK civil space activities under one single management". It is based at the former BNSC headquarters in Swindon, Wiltshire.
Matthias Josef Maurer is a German European Space Agency astronaut and Materials scientist, who was selected in 2015 to take part in space training.
Josef Aschbacher is Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), a position he has held since 1 March 2021. His international career in space combines more than 35 years' of experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.
Anupam Ojha is one of the Directors of the National Space Centre. He serves on the Council of the STFC and as a member of the European Space Agency Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC).