RAL Space Missions and Projects

Missions and Projects

In 1962, researchers at what is now RAL supported a space mission to launch Canada’s first satellite, Alouette 1, marking the beginning of RAL Space’s involvement with the space industry.

For more than 50 years, RAL Space has supported over 210 space missions positioning RAL as a centre for the UK space sector.

RAL Space has worked on a variety of missions including the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Ptolemy instrument for ESA's Rosetta mission. Our involvement in these missions and more can be explored in the categories below.

For more information please email: RAL Space Enquiries

Timeline listing RAL Space mission involvement since 1965.

Astronomy

ALMA
ALMA measures rare submillimetric light that comes from the furthest reaches of our universe to study the Earth's cosmic origins.
Ariel
Ariel is a major upcoming ESA mission that will study the formation and evolution of exoplanets and planetary systems.
Ariel 2
Ariel 2, a British satellite, was the first satellite to be used for radio astronomy. It was launched on a Scout X-3 rocket in America by NASA.
Ariel 3
Ariel 3 was the first all-British satellite to be launched. It conducted five experiments, including measuring galactic noise, electron temperatures and oxygen distribution in the Earth's atmosphere.
Ariel 4
Ariel 4 continued the work of previous Ariel satellites, conducting five similar experiments.
Ariel 5
Ariel 5 carried six experiment payloads, including research into X-rays and photons. It discovered V616 Monocerotis, the nearest known black hole to planet Earth, and provided mankind with proof of their existence
Ariel 6
Ariel 6 was the sixth and last satellite in the Ariel series.
AstroGrid
AstroGrid was the UK's Virtual Observatory development project from 2001-2010. It produced a working data grid for key selected astronomical databases, with associated data mining facilities.
CTIO Victor Blanco Telescope
The Victor Blanco telescope is a 4 metre aperture telescope on Cerro Tololo, Chile built in 1974.
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)
The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is a 4 metre aperture solar telescope and will be the world’s largest ground-based solar telescope once operational in 2019.
FMOS - at the Subaru telescope
FMOS was a collaboration between the Japanese National Astronomical Observatory (NAOJ), the Anglo Australian Observatory (AAO), and a consortium of UK groups.
Gaia
The Gaia spacecraft is surveying one percent of our galaxy by detecting and measuring the motion of each star. From this, it will build the largest and most precise 3D map of our galaxy to date.
Gemini
The Gemini Observatory operates two 8 metre aperture telescopes, one on Mauna Kea, Hawaii and the other on Cerro Pachon Chile.
Ginga
Ginga, or Astro-C, was a Japanese spacecraft that carried three X-ray astronomy experiments. It studied the time variability of X-rays from active galaxies.
Herschel Space Observatory
Herschel was an infrared space observatory covering the wavelength range from 70-700 micrometres and was cooled by 2500 litres of liquid helium. It was the largest single segment telescope launched into space.
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope was the first mission in NASA's Great Observatories program. It was a 2.4m telescope that observed visible, near-ultraviolet and near-infrared light.
IRAS
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was the first-ever space telescope to perform a survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths. IRAS mapped 96% of the sky four times, at 12, 25, 60 and 100 micrometers discovering more than 300,000 objects.
ISIS 1
ISIS 1 was an ionospheric observatory that conducted several experiments into electron density, plasma resonances, VLF signals, magnetic fields and more.
ISIS 2
ISIS 2 was the twin satellite to ISIS 1. It conducted complimentary experiments to ISIS 1 on VLF frequencies, particle experiments and plasma resonances, among others.
ISO
ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was an astronomical satellite that was operational between November 1995 and May 1998 and operated at wavelengths from 2.5 to 240 microns.
IUE
The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was an ultraviolet observatory and international facility. Other than ultraviolet spectroscopy, it also it also tracked electron fluxes which would affect its ultraviolet sensor.
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is the largest astronomical telescope in the world designed specifically to operate in the submillimeter wavelength region of the spectrum. It is now operated and owned by the East Asian Observatory.
JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory that will take the place of the Hubble Space Telescope at the end of this decade.
KMOS – at the Very Large Telescope
KMOS is an infrared spectrometer mounted on the 8m UT1 telescope at the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
LBT, a pair of identical 8.4m telescopes, are the first of the Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs.) Its large aperture, high resolution, low thermal background and high sensitivity allows it to detect faint objects far out in space.
Las Cumbres Observatory
The Las Cumbres Observatory operates 18 medium size robotic telescopes spread around the globe used for astronomical research and education.
LISA Pathfinder
LISA Pathfinder is the second technology testing satellite for European Space Agency (ESA). In 2016 it successfully tested accurate test-mass position sensing in space, for ESA's future LISA mission to observe gravitational waves.
MiniSat 01
The MINISAT programme aimed to develop a system that will permit performance of space operations at a lower cost and within shorter delays when compared with present programmes.
Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec)
OAO-3 (Copernicus)
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3 (OAO-3) was a collaborative effort between the USA (NASA) and the UK (SERC). It had three X-ray telescopes that measured celestial X-ray sources.
Pan-STARRS
The PanSTARRS observatory operates two wide field 1.8 meter aperture telescopes on Haleakala on the island of Maui.
Planck
The Planck mission measured the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the echo of the Big Bang itself, using sensitive radio receivers operating at extremely low temperatures.
ROSAT
ROSAT performed an all-sky survey of X-ray sources, finding around 80,000 cosmic sources and a further 6,000 in the extreme UV regime.
SOAR
The Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) telescope - a 4 meter aperture optical telescope on Cerro Pachon, Chile was built and is operated by a consortium of US universities and Brazil and saw first light in 2004
Spectrum-X
Spectrum-X
Starlink
Starlink
STEP
Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP) is a satellite that aims to test the equivalence principle of Einstein's general relativity theory to a sensitivity of 1 part in 10 to the power of 18
Swift
Swift Observatory studies and relays the coordinates of gamma-ray bursts across the Universe. Swift recorded UV light in the aftermath of a gravitational wave event, giving scientists new insights into star collisions.
VISTA
The Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) is part of the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory that observes the southern sky, which it maps systematically.
WEAVE - at the William Herschel Telescope
The WHT Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE) is a facility upgrade for the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Island of La Palma.
XMM-Newton
XMM-Newton carries three advanced X-ray telescopes. It studies X-rays released during the birth and death of stars and helps us study black holes.

Communications

Atlantic Bird 3/Stellat 5/Eutelsat 5 West A
Eutelsat 5 West A broadcasts satellite television, radio, other digital data and IP services across five continents.
BROADWAN
BROADWAN aimed to develop an economically realistic network to provide broadband services for all citizens in Europe and give European industry a lead in next generation wireless solutions.
CCSDS - the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
CCSDS is a multi-national forum for the development of communications and data systems standards for spaceflight.
GIOVE-A
GIOVE-A was the first test for Galileo, the first positioning, navigation and timing system for civil use consisting of a constellation of 24 satellites. GIOVE-A tested critical Galileo instruments and technologies.
Giove-B
GIOVE-B was the second test for Galileo, the first positioning, navigation and timing system for civil use consisting of a constellation of 24 satellites. GIOVE-B tested critical Galileo instruments and technologies.
GSAT-1
GSAT-1 was an experimental communications satellite that carried 3 c-band transponders and 2 S-band transponders. It was used for digital audio broadcast, internet services and digital TV transmission experiments.
Hotbird 7
KA-SAT
KA-SAT is a European communications satellite that provides high-bandwidth broadband. It was the first European satellite with an exclusively Ka-band communications payload, enabling it to reuse frequencies.
LTMC - Long Term Measurement Campaign
This long term signal measurement programme intended to improve our knowledge of interference within fixed link systems. It was made up of clusters of links located in climatically diverse regions of the UK.
SKYNET-5
Skynet 5 is a constellation of 5 UK military communication satellites which provide services to the British Armed Forces and NATO.
Speqtre
A collaboration between researchers in the UK and Singapore to build and fly a satellite quantum key distribution (QKD) test bed.
STRV-1c/d
STRV was a series of 4 British microsatellites launched in 2 pairs. They tested new technologies in the high dose radiative environment of a geostationary transfer orbit. 1C and 1D carried a lithium ion battery and GPS receiver.
TacSat
Tactical Satellite 1 (TacSat) aimed to test and develop tactical communications concepts for US military services.

Earth Sciences

Chilbolton Atmospheric Observatory (CAO)
Chilbolton Atmospheric Observatory is an internationally-recognised super-site in atmospheric remote sensing. It provides long-term measurements of clouds, rainfall, boundary-layer processes and aerosols.
ADM - Aeolus
Aeolus is an ESA Earth Explorer mission exploring wind profiles on a global scale. The data produced will improve the accuracy of weather and climate prediction.
AMDI
BADR-B
BADR-B is a small Earth Observation microsatellite that conducted four major experiments.
BILSAT-1
BILSAT-1 was a Turkish earth observation satellite. It was one of four other satellites in the DMC project constellation which were dedicated to disaster monitoring. BILSAT-1 studied land use, forestry, agriculture and urban development.
Cambridge IPS Array (Lord's Bridge)
A 81.5 MHz radio array at Lord’s Bridge, near Cambridge. The array was repaired and upgraded in 1989 in a collaboration between Cambridge, RAL and the Space Environment Laboratory (NOAA, Boulder, USA) for routine use in monitoring IPS signals.
CFESat
CFESat is an American military microsatellite that studies radio spectra for ionosphere and lightning studies.
Climateprediction.Net
Climateprediction.net is a volunteer computing, climate modelling project.
EarthCARE
EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) is an ESA Earth observation mission that will investigate the relationship between clouds, aerosols and radiation and their combined effects on the Earth's climate system.
ENVIronmental monitoring SATellite (ENVISAT)
ENVISAT was an ESA environmental remote sensing mission that carried 10 instruments. It took thousands of images of Earth and produced data used to monitor global warming and ozone layer desertification.
EOS-Aqua
EOS-Aqua is part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) with AURA. It collects data on the Earth's water cycle, such as ocean evaporation, clouds, precipitation and ice levels.
EOS-AURA
Aura is giving us insight into the Earth's atmospheric chemistry by analysing trace gases.
ERS-1
ERS-1 was the first in a series of ESA Earth Observation satellites in the European Earth Observation program. ERS-1 primarily monitored ocean and ice levels using all-weather high resolution active microwave imaging.
ERS-2
ERS-2 was the sister satellite to ERS-1 and carried out similar research as well as having an additional sensor for atmospheric ozone research.
FedSat
FedSat was an Australian microsatellite for communications, navigation and computer systems.
GEostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB)
The GEostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) series of instruments monitor the reflected sunlight and thermal emissions from Earth, to study daily variations and long-term climate changes.
GOES-16
GOES-R, or GOES-16, is the first in the GOES-R series of 4 NOAA geostationary weather satellites. It provides advanced imagery and real-time mapping of weather, lightning and monitoring of solar activity and space weather.
Maroc - Tubsat
The MAROC-TUBSAT project is a co-operation between CRTS Morocco and the Institute für Luft-und Raumfahrttechnik in Berlin, where the Moroccan side is responsible for payload and launch and the German side for the satellite bus.
MARSCHALS
MARSCHALS is a millimetre-wave limb sounding spectrometer currently deployed from the Russian M-55 Geophysica high-altitude aircraft.
MetOp-A
Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. It is the first of 3 satellites to be launched sequentially over 14 years.
MicroCarb
MicroCarb will map the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide on Earth’s surface.
MIDAS
The MIDAS project will redress the technology imbalance between the EU and the US in a most significant area of European technology non-dependence, affecting the scientific and commercial exploitation of the sub-millimetre region of the electro-magnetics
MSG-1
MSG-1, or Meteosat-8, is one of a series of satellites which sends sharp imagery of Europe, Africa and parts of the Indian and Atlantic Ocean every 15 minutes for meteorological study.
MSG-2
MSG-2, or Meteosat-9, is one of a series is one of a series of satellites which sends sharp imagery of Europe, Africa and parts of the Indian and Atlantic Ocean every 15 minutes for meteorological study.
MSG-3
MSG-3, or Meteosat-10, is one of a series is one of a series of satellites which sends sharp imagery of Europe, Africa and parts of the Indian and Atlantic Ocean every 15 minutes for meteorological study.
MSG-4
MSG-4, or Meteosat-11, is one of a series is one of a series of satellites which sends sharp imagery of Europe, Africa and parts of the Indian and Atlantic Ocean every 15 minutes for meteorological study.
MST Radar
The MST radar belongs to a class of atmospheric radars that are able measure profiles of the three-dimensional wind vector on a continuous basis. They also provide information about turbulence, atmospheric structure, and precipitation.
NEODC
The NERC Earth Observation Data Centre is one of six NERC Designated Data Centres. The NEODC Mission - in line with the NERC Data Policy - is to ensure the responsible stewardship and distribution of its own Earth Observation (EO) data.
Nigeria Sat-1
NigeriaSat-1 is part of a four satellite constellation for disaster monitoring. It studied urban planning and agriculture
NigeriaSat-2
NigeriaSat-2, a Nigerian satellite, provides data for disaster monitoring, urban planning and environmental monitoring with a very high resolution imaging capacity.
NOAA-17
NOAA-17, or NOAA-M, was one in a long line of NOAA polar orbiting meteorological satellites. It helped researchers predict severe weather, such as hurricanes and snow storms, and tracked environmental changes that suggested drought and wildfire conditions
NOAA-N
NOAA-N, or NOAA 18, is the 15th in a series of satellites that monitor severe weather and observe the Earth's atmosphere to improve weather prediction.
Proba-V
Proba-V is the fourth satellite in the European Space Agency's PROBA series; the V standing for vegetation.
PULSAUR
RapidEye
RapidEye is a collection of five identicle mini-satellites which provide high resolution large area image data daily in five spectral bands.
Sapphire
Sapphire is part of the Canadian Space Surveillance System. It tracks objects in high Earth orbit to provide data used in the U.S Satellite Catalogue.
Sentinel-2
Sentinel-2 is composed of twin satellites 2A and 2B in the same orbit which provides image data in order to observe land management, agriculture and forestry, disaster control, risk mapping and more.
Sentinel-3
RAL Space calibrated the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on Sentinel-3.
Swarm
Swarm is the fourth in a line of Earth Explorer research missions. It is a set of three identical satellites that measure magnetic signals from the magnetosphere, ionosphere and the Earth.
TechDemoSat
TechDemoSat is a SSTL satellite which is carrying several technology experiments.
TELIS
The Terahertz and Sub-mm Limb Sounder (TELIS) is a new state-of-the-art balloon borne atmospheric monitor that will allow enhanced limb sounding of the Earth's atmosphere within the millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelength spectral range.
TopSat
TopSat is a high resolution space camera, developed by RAL Space, which takes images with 2.5m pixels from 600km orbit height.
UARS
UARS measured winds and temperatures in the stratosphere as well as the energy input from the Sun. It helped define the role of the upper atmosphere in climate and climate variability.
UK-DMC
UK-DMC (distaster monitoring constellation) is a British made small satellite and the first in a constellation that provided daily images for disaster monitoring and rapid-response mitigation.
UKube-1
UK Space Agency‘s pilot programme to design and launch a (3U) CubeSat – a miniaturized (30x10x10 cm) satellite that will enable the UK to demonstrate new technologies in space.
UoSat-12
UoSat-12, a SSTL built satellite, carried out a number of "next generation" systems to qualify new technology for flight on subsequent missions.
UrtheCast
RAL Space Imaging Systems have designed, built and tested two cameras, one high and one medium resolution, for installation on the Russian module of the International Space Station.

Near-Earth Environment

Alouette 1
Alouette 1 was a small ionospheric observatory instrumented with an ionospheric sounder, a VLF receiver, an energetic particle detector, and a cosmic noise experiment
Alouette 2
Alouette 2 was a Canadian satellite with a sweep-frequency ionospheric sounder, a VLF receiver, an energetic particle experiment, a cosmic noise experiment, and an electrostatic probe. Operations were terminated in 1975.
AMPTE UKS
AMPTE UKS was part of the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorer (AMPTE) mission as a sub satellite of the Ion Release Module (IRM) spacecraft.
Ariel 1
Ariel-1 was the first British Satellite to ever be launched and the first in the Ariel series.
CASSIOPE
CASSIOPE stands for the ‘CASCADE Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer’ and is a Canadian small hybrid satellite carrying several payloads.
Cluster II
Cluster 2 is an ESA mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere and consists of four identical spacecraft orbiting in a tetrahedral formation.
CRRES (Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite)
CRRES was a NASA project to investigate fields, plasmas and energetic particles within the Earth's magnetosphere. It was specifically designed to withstand intense solar activity and provided data used to prolong the lifetimes of future satellites.
CUTLASS
The CUTLASS radars form part of SuperDARN, an international network of similar radars covering almost 180 degrees longitude in the northern hemisphere and including conjugate stations in the Antarctic.
Double Star Equatorial and Polar
Double Star, a mission made of two satellites, one in a polar orbit and one in an equatorial orbit, studies the effects of the Sun on Earth.
European Incoherent SCATter (EISCAT)
UK EISCAT support is jointly provided by RAL Space and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The project supports UK use of the world-leading EISCAT radars, which measure the upper atmosphere from the mesosphere to the edge of space.
IMAGE
IMAGE was a NASA MIDEX mission that studied how the Earth's magnetosphere reacted to changes in solar wind. It used neutral atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging techniques to carry out its mission.
IONOSONDE (Chilton and Stanley)
Ionosondes are specialised radars which reflect pulses at the Earths ionosphere to find optimised frequencies for communications. RAL Space has worked on ionospherics since as early as the 1920s at Ditton Park.
Ionospheric Monitoring Group
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory operates ionosondes at RAL (Chilton) in the UK and at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
Polar
The Polar satellite was placed in a highly elliptical orbit to gather multi-wavelength images of the Aurora, and to observe the polar magnetosphere. Mission operations were terminated on the 28th of April 2008.
PULSAUR
SEDAT
The aim of the Space Environment Database and Analysis Tools (SEDAT) project is to develop a new approach to the engineering analysis of the spacecraft charged-particle environment.

Solar Physics

ACE
ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) is a NASA Explorers mission orbiting the L1 Libration point - where it studies spaceborne energetic particles and provides near real-time space weather data.
Coriolis
Coriolis is a US Department of Defence mission to test new technology that uses multichannel polarimetric radiometry to study wind vectors.
CORONAS-F
CORONAS-F is a Russian solar observatory that measures fluctuations in light intensity, solar radio bursts, the Sun's corona itself, disk emission, solar flares and more.
ESRO-1A (Aurorae)
ESRO-1A (also known as Aurorae) was launched by the European Space Research Organisation (one of the forerunners of ESA) to study the effects on the polar ionosphere of high-energy charged particles from the sun.
ESRO-1B (Boreas)
ESRO-1B (Boreas) is the twin satellite to ESRO-1A. It conducted 8 experiments that were complimentary to those carried out by 1A.
EUNIS
EUNIS is an extreme ultraviolet solar spectrometer with high efficiency and high spectral resolution. It has nearly 100 times the throughput of the highly successful SERTS payloads that have preceded it.
Herschel Sounding Rocket
The Herschel Sounding Rocket investigated the origin of solar wind, helium abundance, CMEs, kinematics and more.
Hinode (Solar-B)
Hinode (SOLAR-B) studied the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona using optical, EUV and X-ray instruments to improve our understanding of solar variability and the origins of solar activity.
Lagrange
The primary goal of the Lagrange mission is to enable improved forecasts of the arrival of space weather phenomena at Earth, through real-time monitoring of the Sun and solar wind from the unique Lagrange L5 vantage point.
MOSES
MOSES was a NASA sounding rocket mission carrying a remote sensing extreme UV spectrograph. It measured velocities and temperatures of the sun to build pictures.
NEXUS
Nexus was a Normal-Incidence Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph, proposed in response to a NASA SMEX mission call in 2004 and 2007.
Proba-3
Proba-3 is an upcoming ESA mission as well as the world's first precision formation flying mission, in which a pair of satellites will fly together in a fixed configuration.
PUNCH
The Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission is a NASA small-explorer (SMEX) mission: its primary science goal is to fully discern the cross-scale physical processes that unify the solar corona and heliosphere.
SERTS
SERT stands for Space Electric Rocket Test, a NASA program that began in the 1960s that aimed to prove electric rockets could produce thrust in space via mercury ion exhaust.
SMM
NASA’s dedicated observatory for the study of solar flares using a battery of international instruments observing the Sun in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths.
SOHO
The Solar & Heliospheric Observatory is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind. It's orbiting the Lagrange L1 point, providing a continuous view of the Sun.
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
SDO is a NASA mission to observe solar activity and space weather. It studies the Sun's magnetic field and how this magnetic energy propels away from the sun as solar wind, energetic particles and other space weather phenomena.
Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter is a mission of collaboration between the ESA and NASA. Its goal is to address the central question of Heliophysics: how does the Sun create and control the heliosphere?
STEREO
NASA’s twin spacecraft mission to study the Sun in 3D and the passage of solar-ejected clouds (coronal mass ejections - CMEs) that are directed towards Earth.
TRACE
The Transition Region and Coronal Explorer NASA pioneering solar high-resolution imaging mission (forerunner to SDO) developed by Lockheed Martin, Palo Alto, USA, using extreme-UV imaging systems in selected wavelengths to observe the solar corona.
UK CDHF for STP
The Cluster Coordinated Data Handling Facility is a data centre for Cluster 1 and 2. The primary aim of the UK CDHF is to support the UK STP community, particularly in the area of multi-instrument and multi-spacecraft/mission analysis.
Ulysses
Ulysses was a joint ESA-NASA mission to study the heliosphere and take the first ever measurements of this region.
World Data Centre for Solar-Terrestrial Physics
WDC is based at RAL Space, Harwell, and consists of archives for geophysical data, ionospheric data, solar data and more. Data archives for STEREO, SOHO and TRACE are also held here.
Yohkoh
Yohkoh was a Japanese Institute for Space and Astronautical Sciences mission. The spacecraft was built in Japan and the observing instruments have contributions from the U.S. and the U.K. Yohkoh studied energetic phenomena on the Sun, such as solar flares

Solar System

Beagle 2
Beagle 2 was an exobiology lander designed to look for signs of life on Mars, as part of the European Space Agency Mars Express mission.
Cassini/Huygens
Cassini was a joint NASA-ESA-ASI mission. It orbited Saturn for 13 years, studying Saturn's atmosphere and moons. Cassini also carried a probe, Huygens, which landed on Titan, one of Saturn's moons.
Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-1 was the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO's) first mission to the Moon, launched in October 2008 on board a Polar Satellite launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) launch site in India.
ExoMars
ExoMars (2016) was a combination of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the landing Demonstrator Module Schiaparelli. They flew to Mars in search of methane and other trace gases.
Giotto
Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. Its images showed for the first time the shape of a comet nucleus.
InSight
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (Insight) NASA robotic lander will look beneath the surface of Mars to answer questions about the early formation of rocky planets.
Mars Express
Mars Express was an ESA mission to study Mars. It included a lander, Beagle 2, which failed. The Mars Express Orbiter was successful, gathering data on Mars' atmosphere, surface and subsurface.
NOZOMI (Planet-B)
NOZOMI was a japanese Mars explorer that studied the interaction between Mars' upper atmosphere and solar wind, Mars' magnetic field and Mars' surface.
Peregrine-1
The Peregrine Lunar Lander is part of NASA’s Artemis programme which aims to develop the first long-term presence on the Moon.
Rosetta
Rosetta was an ESA orbiter that rendezvoused with Comet 67P in 2014 after chasing it for 10 years. Rosetta's lander, Philae, landed on the comet. Rosetta studied the environment of the comet, including the organic molecules it contained.
SMART-1
SMART-1 was a lunar rover designed to test technologies for future missions, such as a solar power ion drive and deep-space telecommunications system.
Spacelab 2
NASA's multi-science payload carried aboard Shuttle STS-51-F (Challenger) including the RAL Space CHASE experiment (Coronal Helium Abundance Spacelab Experiment).
Venus Express
Venus Express investigated the plasma environment and atmosphere of Venus, studying numerous qualities of the planet including gas levels, cloud systems, volcanic and seismic activity and global dynamics.
Viking Sweden
Viking Sweden was Sweden's first national satellite and studied magnetospheric phenomena above the auroral zones, where hot and cold collisionless plasmas interact with each other.