14 Jan 05: Guided by British software and parachutes, Huygens lands safely on Titan.

The Space Group is the specialist group within The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) charged with promoting the interests of the Society and its members in astronautics and its component scientific and engineering disciplines.

These interests cover the design and manufacture of spacecraft and launch vehicles, plus the application of space techniques in such varied fields as communications, navigation, planetary exploration, astronomy and remote sensing.

The Space Group holds a number of conferences and lectures each year. These events are usually held at the Society's headquarters in central London, although evening lectures are also occasionally held at the regional branches of the Society around the UK and abroad. Major space conferences are sometimes sponsored jointly with other major learned institutions. Events held by the Space Group at the Society's headquarters are usually open to non-members of the Society; and evening lectures are usually free. These occasions provide a relaxed atmosphere in which participants will find an opportunity for professional networking and career development. The Space Group extends a particular welcome to students and younger members embarking on an aerospace career.

You are encouraged to use this web site to participate in the creation of the Society's programme of events using the email address listed below.

08 Nov 05: Built in Stevenage and operated from London, the second of the massive Inmarsat 2 satellites is launched to provide broadband to aviators and mariners world-wide.

Recent lectures

The Space Group usually organises four or five evening lectures a year and an all-day conference. The annual programme is diverse owing to the multi-disciplinary nature of the space activities represented.

Evening lectures on space organised by the Space Group and/or Branches in the recent past include:

• The role of satellites in the International Polar Year Dr David Carlson described how satellites make a unique contribution to this UN-sponsored global scientific initiative.

• Europe's weather satellites The Director General of EUMETSAT Dr Lars Prahm, and his Programme Director Dr Ernst Koenemann explained Europe's contribution to the world-wide satellite fleet that monitors the planet's weather.

• Skynet 5, Britain's new military space system Astrium Programme Director Patrick Wood described the new satellites providing telecommunications services to UK military forces around the world.

• Fifty years in Space (jointly with the Historical Group) On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik-1 Dr Chris Welch helped us re-live the dawn of the space age.

• The Virgin Galactic experience (jointly with the Aviation Medicine Group) Alex Tai described the exciting space tourism prospects on offer from this Anglo-American venture.

13 Dec 05: Virgin Galactic chooses New Mexico for the world's first commercial spaceport.

Members of the Society with an interest in space-related subjects are encouraged to contact the Space Group, so they can receive timely notice of the Space Group's activities or other space-related events via our free email notification service. This service is also open to non-members of the Society. To subscribe send a blank email to space@aerosociety.com with "subscribe" in the subject. Suggestions for events (topics, speakers, format, venue, associated milestones, etc) should be sent to that email address, and will be acknowledged and reviewed by the Committee.

Society web site www.aerosociety.com or www.aerosociety.com  Space Group web site www.aerosociety.com/space/  email space@aerosociety.com

Committee meetings

The Space Group committee acts on behalf of the Space Group to arrange the programme of events, and to provide the Society with a specialist source of advice on all matters relating to space. The committee draws its membership from across the space community including commercial and industrial companies; academic and research institutions; and government departments. Committee meetings are held four times per year.

28 Dec 05: Launch of the Galileo satellite (Europe's GPS) built in Guildford.

Richard Bavin
Paul Coutinho, Vega Ltd
Prof Richard Crowther, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
John Davey, British National Space Centre
Philip E Davies, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (Vice Chairman)
Jasween Dogra (Young Members Board representative)
Mike Jones, EADS Astrium
Martin Littlehales, Ministry of Defence
Dr Malcolm MacDonald, University of Strathclyde
Pat Norris, Logica (Chairman)
David Richer, Brunel Technics Ltd (immediate Past-Chairman)
Dr Peter C E Roberts, Cranfield University
Carl Warren, EADS Astrium

Pat Norris
Chairman