Posted: Wed, Mar 24, 2010, 7:36 AM ET (1136 GMT)
The British government announced Tuesday the formation of a full-fledged space agency to centralize British space activities. The UK Space Agency will begin operations on April 1 and will be headquartered in Swindon. The agency, which replaces the existing British National Space Centre, will bring together the space activities in a number of government agencies. It will manage the UK's contributions to ESA and the UK's role in European projects like GMES and Galileo, as well as other national space efforts. The UK government will also fund the development of an International Space Innovation Centre, to be located at a new ESA facility in Harwell.

Related Links:

•  BBC article
•  Reuters article
•  The Guardian article
•  The Times of London article
•  BNSC press release