The Space Physics Division is concerned with the development and use of space instrumentation for space research, specifically in the areas of solar physics, solar terrestrial physics, planetary and magnetospheric physics, astronomy and fundamental physics - and these areas make up the group structure of the Division. The Division operates a scientific, operations and mission development and management programme that is at the very heart of the UK's space programme - and in many ways provides a leading and coordinating role in UK space research, collaborating with many university groups and national and international partners. The Division operates on a world-class level having gained a high reputation through its long heritage of space missions, ground-based systems and facilities and scientific research.

With a little over 40 staff, including 10 honorary appointments at UK universities, the Division is playing a leading or key role in the on-going operations of a number of spacecraft at this time, including SOHO, Cluster, ACE, SMART-1 and Mars Express. In parallel, many missions are either in the planning phase or under development, including Herschel, Planck, STEREO, Solar-B, Solar Orbiter and Venus Express. In addition, the Division leads high-quality ground-based instrumentation, such as EISCAT and the ionosonde facilities, and houses a number of space archives, including the UK Solar System Data Centre/World Data Centre. In collaboration with the Space Data Division, the Division participates in the provision, for ESA, of payload operations facilities for Cluster, Double Star, Mars Express. Finally, the active research programme of the Division is well illustrated by the fact that almost 180 papers per year were produced in the reporting period for the last rolling grant review.


Contact: Prof Richard Harrison MBE Head of Space Physics Division

Research Areas

Space and Groundbased Research Projects

The Space Physics Division is involved in over fifty major space projects. A full list of these can be seen on the Projects page.

The Solar Physics Group is currently involved in operating the RAL-led CDS instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft and hardware for the upcoming STEREO and Solar-B missions is under development, ready for launch in 2006. In addition, the Group is involved in the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, due for launch in 2008, and is playing a central role in defining the ESA Solar Orbiter mission, due for launch in 2013. The Group also has involvements in sub-orbital rocket flights in collaboration with US colleagues, as well as roles in other on-going and recent solar missions such as TRACE, Yohkoh and Coriolis.

The Solar Terrestrial Physics group is mainly involved in the UK coordination and operation of ground-based radar facilities for studies of the ionosphere, specifically the EISCAT radar system in Scandinavia, and the ionosondes at RAL and the Falkland Islands. The Group is also responsible for running the World Data Centre for Solar Terrestrial Physics, which is now part of the RAL UK Solar System Data Centre (UKSSDC). In a new venture, the Group is now playing a central role in the development of the Earthshine space mission, a UK spacecraft for studying the Earth's albedo from space.

The Planetary and Magnetospheric Physics Group is involved in the development and operation of a range of spacecraft which are making measurements of the near Earth environment or are visiting other planets. The former includes the Cluster II, Double Star, Polar and Image spacecraft, whilst the latter includes Cassini (Saturn/Titan), Mars Express (Mars), SMART-1 (Moon), and Rosetta (comet). These are all currently operational spacecraft; the Group is involved in the development of new missions such as Venus Express (2005) and BepiColombo (2012), which will fly to Venus and Mercury respectively.

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

The Fundamental Physics Group is playing a major role in this newly developing area of space research, with involvement in the ESA/NASA LISA project and its forerunner, the LISA Pathfinder mission, for the detection of gravitational waves in space. In addition, the Group is involved in the studies of future missions such as STEP (to study the equivalence of inertia and gravitational mass).