The British… well, UK space agency will come into being on the 1st of April (here is me hoping it is not an elaborate April’s fool joke) and will take full responsibility for all government policy and budget decisions regarding space exploration, research and travel.

The British Space Minister, Lord Drayson, who initially put forward the idea of a UK / British Space Agency, had the following to say about the announcement.

“People in the UK are not aware of just how good Britain is both at space research and in terms of our space industry; [a space agency] is going to make people more aware of that,”

“But in practical terms, it’s going to make the decision-making by government in all aspects of space policy much more joined up, better co-ordinated – a single point within government which has responsibility for making sure that we get everything in alignment such that the space research we do, the space industry that we’re building, fulfils its true potential.”

Source: BBC News

As someone who is find the idea of space travel fantastic, I’m glad to see Britain getting its own space agency. Hopefully this will push more official space missions.

Although to be fair, the British public are not doing too bad on their own, with a guy called Robert Harrison taking some amazing photos of space, with a device which cost no more than £500!

Take a look at the photo his budget space exploration device below. If you want to, you can browse the entire Icarus Project photo collection on Flickr, or read some more about his space photography ventures.

Are you British? Tell me what you think of the Space Agency. Incredibly cool, or not?

Personally, I have great hopes for such a project. NASA is a massive and very impressive force for space exploration in the US and perhaps more importantly  it is an icon which encourages younger generations to learn and educational institutes to teach in related science and technology topics.

A British space agency would certainly have the same affect in this country as “Mummy, I want to become an astronaut” would become significantly more plausible for British kids. Hopefully, such a space agency would also raise the next generations overall enthusiasm for the related sciences, such as physics, chemistry and of course, rocket science.  Let us just hope this British space agency project acquires the necessary funding and goes ahead as Space Minister Lord Drayson really wishes.

Also, what would such a space agency by called? What do you think about space exploration and the hope quantities of money spent on these space exploration endeavours?