Space technology has been given a boost in the U.K. by the government. In a speech to the Royal Society, Chancellor George Osborne announced an annual grant of £240 million to the European Space Agency, upping the current figure by around a quarter. It’s a timely move, given that since 2010, when the current government came to power, funding has declined by around 5%.
In return for the investment, which will account for 30% of the ESA’s revenue, the agency is to put its telecoms satellite HQ in Oxfordshire, creating 100 jobs.
[Beautifully autumnal image courtesy of NASA]