Astrium is Europe’s largest space company, employing 3,500 people in the UK alone. Astrium produces some of the world’s leading edge earth observation, science and telecommunication satellites in one of the most exciting sectors of the engineering profession. 

In 2016, European Space Agency Astronaut, Tim Peake, carried out a series of experiments on the International Space Station, using equipment designed by the National Space Academy.

The overall programme includes the following topics from UK physics and chemistry secondary school curricula:

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This video features Anu Ohja talking about the growth of the UK space sector and the involvement in of the UK in human spaceflight.

This collection of videos show ESA Astronaut, Tim Peake, on the International Space Station, demonstrating circular motion.  In this free-fall environment, Tim can demonstrate how objects move in a circular path without the observed effects of gravitational acceleration with similar experiments performed in the...

This collection of videos show ESA Astronaut, Tim Peake, on the International Space Station, demonstrating the physics of collisions.  In this free-fall environment, Tim can demonstrate how objects collide without the observed effects of gravitational acceleration with similar experiments performed in the classroom...

This video explains the concept of gravity and why everything on the International Space Station appears to float.

This collection of videos show ESA Astronaut, Tim Peake, on the International Space Station, demonstrating kinetic theory.  In this free-fall environment, Tim can demonstrate the behaviour of an ideal gas without the observed effects of gravitational acceleration with similar experiments performed in the classroom...

In this Space mission themed activity, pupils will observe how seeds grow into mature plants by tracking the development of three unknown seeds. Pupils will also learn to make scientific observations and record data to track the growth of these plants over time before being given the opportunity to interpret and...

This activity requires students to use computer software to try to save a space borne tourist attraction, AstroZoo, which has various exotic space creatures, but has fallen on hard times. The zoo was once a great success, but bad management has seen oxygen reserves exhausted, creature enclosures overpopulated,...

Dr Claire Cousins and Mark Fox-Powell explain how scientists look at life that exists in extreme environments on Earth, to see what kind of life scientists might see on the surface of Mars.  This knowledge helps scientists plan the best target for a rover.

Professor Cockell takes us through the astrobiology...

The search for life on other worlds is one of the most fascinating contexts that science lessons can have. In this guide, several of the resources focus on practical experiments or investigations that link astrobiology to the science curriculum. In all cases, regular scientific concepts such as factors affecting...

In this set of six activities, pupils will investigate which factors affect plant growth, and relate these factors to growing plants in space. They will learn that plants need air, light, water, nutrients and a stable temperature to grow. Children will also observe what happens to plants when they vary some of...

In this set of activities, students will learn about the different components of plants. They will learn which parts of well-known plants are edible and learn the difference between a vegetable, a fruit and a seed. The students will have to imagine and draw the plant associated with the fruit/vegetable/ seed they...

This astronaut logbook introduces pupils to a typical week in the life of an astronaut. It enables pupils to compare an astronaut's diet, exercise, hobbies and clothing with their own. The logbook takes the form of a work book which pupils have to complete whilst learning about the International Space Station and...

This activity introduces the idea of remote sensing and some of the difficulties of obtaining images from orbit by asking students to match photographs taken from the ground with early astronaut photographs.