Space Park Leicester

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Space Park Leicester
Space Park Leicester.jpg
General information
AddressCorporation Road, Belgrave
Town or city Leicester
CountryEngland
Current tenants Rolls Royce, Airbus, Northrop Grumman, Satellite Applications Catapult, Maxar, Atomic Weapons Establishment, UK Space Agency, National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Leicester, Open Cosmos, CGI, Exosens and EarthSense.
Design and construction
Architecture firmShepheard Epstein Hunter [1]

Space Park Leicester is a research, innovation and teaching hub in England for space-related high-tech companies and researchers focussing primarily on research, development and applications of space. [2] It is located in Belgrave, Leicester next to the National Space Centre and the River Soar. It was officially opened by British astronaut Tim Peake on 14 March 2022. [3] [4] Organisations that reside at Space Park Leicester include Rolls Royce, Airbus, Northrop Grumman, Satellite Applications Catapult, Maxar, Atomic Weapons Establishment, Open Cosmos, CGI, Exosens and EarthSense. [5]

Contents

Facilities

In 2024 the first space instrument was developed at the park. The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) was completed and delivered for integration into the European Space Agency’s Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission. [6] The SXI is a wide-field X-ray telescope designed to map Earth's magnetospheric boundaries using micropore optics. It was developed through a collaboration between the University of Leicester, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, the Open University and several European institutions. The instrument was assembled and tested in Space Park Leicester's cleanroom facilities before being delivered to Airbus Defence and Space in Madrid for integration into the SMILE.[ citation needed ]

References

  1. ↑ "Space Park Leicester". Shepheard Epstein Hunter. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  2. ↑ "A new centre for deep space exploration will be built in Leicester". UKSPA. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  3. ↑ "Astronaut Tim Peake opens Space Park Leicester". BBC . 14 March 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  4. ↑ "Space Park Leicester marks hugely successful first year as Space City launches". University of Leicester . 14 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Leicester: Satellite firm joins space park to track solar wind". BBC . 20 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "Leicester University deliver cutting-edge telescope for SMILE mission". The Engineer . Retrieved 26 September 2025.
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