Space and Astronautics

The University of Southampton is a leading integrated research, teaching and enterprise organization covering a wide range of engineering disciplines. The activities carried out in space cover a wide spectrum of fundamental and applied research in the field of space physics and spacecraft engineering, many of which are related to the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA).

Our key areas of focus include:

• Space situational awareness
• Autonomy
• Multifunctional structures
• Deployable structures and de-orbit devices
• Remote sensing and Earth Observation
• Training (space systems engineering)

Growing space debris problems

The Earth is surrounded by thousands of pieces of space debris, including old satellites and even flakes of paint that have fallen off space vehicles. Southampton researchers are investigating the problems space debris may cause in the future and how to overcome them.