About
A speaker from the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) will talk about the instruments currently being designed and built for both space based and ground based observatories. This will include instruments like LISA, a gravitational wave observatory being built by the European Space Agency (ESA) due for launch in the mid 2030s, and the largest telescope ever built, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) currently under construction in Chile

A speaker from RAL Space will talk about major developments on space payloads for UK, European and other international missions. This could include missions like ARIEL, Sentinel, SpeQtre, EarthCARE and others. RAL Space carries out world-class science research and technology development with significant involvement in more than 210 instruments on missions to date.

THE UK ATC and RAL Space are National Labs within STFC which develop the instruments and facilities for ground breaking research in Physics and Astronomy. We do the engineering required to build and maintain these facilities so scientists can concentrate on the research.

Attendees will learn:
1. The position of the UK’s National Labs (RAL Space and UK ATC) as leading international centres for the design and build of instruments for Astronomy and Space Science
2. The LISA Gravitational Wave Observatory and the advanced technology development required to detect ripples in the fabric of spacetime
3. The construction of the world’s largest telescope in Chile and the instruments being designed for first light detection
4. Development work on Ariel, a major upcoming ESA mission that will study the formation and evolution of exoplanets and planetary systems.
5. How RAL Space’s broad engineering capabilities are being applied to deliver the next generation in space instruments and payloads.
When
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 · 11:00 a.m. London (GMT +0:00)
Presenters
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Nigel Morris
Head of Engineering and Production
Nigel has been the Head of Engineering and Production since April 2022 where leads a team of engineers and technicians that provide engineering solutions for space missions to internal and external customers. Prior to this he worked as a project manager in the UK’s National Satellite Test Facility (NSTF) where he was responsible for the specification and procurement of the environmental test facilities.
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Will Kingett
Senior AIT Engineer (Assembly, Integration and Test)
Will has been an AIT Engineer at RAL Space since October 2021. He is currently working as the Technical Lead on the Sentinel 5 UVNS project during its Environmental Test Campaign at the RAL Space facility in Oxfordshire. He has an MSc in Space Engineering with honours from the University of Surrey and a BEng in Aerospace Engineering from the University of the West of England
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Davide Bruzzi
Lead Analysis and Verification Engineer
Davide is currently working on the ESA’s Ariel mission as Lead Analysis and Verification Engineer for the Ariel Payload. He joined RAL Space, at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in 2015 working as Lead Mechanical Engineer for the SPICE instrument on ESA’s Solar Orbiter. Since then, he has worked on several scientific and earth observation payloads as mechanical engineer and, more recently, as Pointing and Calibration System technical lead for the UK-French Microcarb mission. Before moving to the United Kingdom, he gained experience in small satellite missions working as Systems Engineer and Mission Implementation Manager at Sitael, in Italy, since 2007.
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Phil Rees
Head of Engineering Operations
Phil is the head of engineering and operations at the UKATC. He has 40 years of experience in design and manufacture of infrared instrumentation with over 20 years in the astronomy sector. He has worked primarily as a systems engineer and technical leader on multi-disciplinary, international collaborations.
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Jon Excell
Editor, The Engineer
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