Neighbouring the European Space Agency’s UK site on the Harwell campus in Oxfordshire, the Space and Defence Gateway was opened by His Majesty at an event attended by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, UK ESA astronauts, and several other high-level representatives from ESA, the UK government and the Harwell campus.

The visit provided an opportunity for Josef Aschbacher to present His Majesty with a Union Flag that spent nearly a year aboard the International Space Station.

The Gateway comprises a co-working and events space that will facilitate collaboration between governments, space agencies, academia and industry. It will concentrate on enabling businesses to secure investment, enabling UK start-ups to refine and scale-up their operations.

The initiative aligns with the principles of the Astra Carta, a global framework designed to encourage sustainability and responsible practices within the space industry.

During the visit, His Majesty was taken on a tour of the Harwell campus space cluster and its vibrant community of public and private enterprises, featuring national research laboratories, sovereign test facilities, start-ups, scale-ups and multinational corporations.

The continued growth of the cluster is supported by several anchor organisations, including RAL Space, the UK Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult – and ESA.

ESA’s Harwell-based European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) is home to teams working in telecommunications, commercialisation, Earth observation, exploration and technology development.

The facility hosts ESA’s 5G/6G Hub, which is accelerating the deployment of space-enabled connectivity, and ESA’s climate team, which uses satellite data to monitor long-term changes impacting the planet. On the surrounding campus, ECSAT supports several other facilities, including ESA’s Business Incubation Centre UK, which helps start-ups to turn their space-connected ideas into commercial reality.

Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA, said, “We warmly welcome the UK Space and Defence Gateway as a new neighbour for ESA, whose UK base at Harwell houses ESA’s climate, telecommunications and integrated applications teams. We look forward to working together to strengthen Europe’s autonomy, resilience and ability to act, while fostering innovation and delivering tangible benefits for citizens.”

UK Space Minister Liz Lloyd said, “The opening of the Space and Defence Gateway is a significant moment for the UK’s space sector, and His Majesty The King’s visit to Harwell underlines the vital contribution this cluster makes to our economy. His Majesty’s leadership through the Astra Carta has set a clear course for a sustainable and ambitious future for the industry.

“We are committed to building the national capabilities that deliver better space services and create global export opportunities. I look forward to seeing the Gateway deepen the collaboration that turns world-class talent into real breakthroughs.”

Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Innovation Clusters and Harwell Campus, UKRI, and Founder of the UK Space and Defence Gateway said, “We were delighted to welcome His Majesty to Harwell today to mark the opening of the UK Space and Defence Gateway, aligned with the sustainability principles of Astra Carta.

“The Gateway is not only a physical hub with access to multidisciplinary cutting-edge facilities – it is a new way of working which brings together civil and defence space stakeholders across government, industry, academia and investors to enable a clear pathway between innovation and scale-up and to deliver on national priorities.”

“I look forward to working alongside our partners in the Gateway across the UK and internationally to help our businesses thrive whilst making a real difference to the world.”