Astronomy

Baby Stars in the Rosette Cloud
Herschel PACS/SPIRE
(Credit: ESA)

RAL Space supports astronomers using instruments in space and on the ground, with a wide range of expertise in design, building, testing and calibration.  RAL scientists also participate in astronomical research using data from these and other instruments to further our understanding of galaxies and the formation of stars and planets.

We are at the heart of the UK's infrared/microwave astronomy programme, with past involvement in the IRAS and ISO missions, and recent missions such as ESA's Herschel and Planck spacecraft, and the follow-on to the Hubble Space Telescope, the NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We also have involvement in astronomical missions at other wavelengths, such as the on-going NASA FUSE observatory and are playing a role in defining future missions such as Darwin, for finding Earth-like planets.