2000

• January: The first data from XMM-Newton delight scientists at the University Science Centre, which will be responsible for all initial data reduction before relay to astronomers around the world.

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  Beagle 2 lander (image: ESA)

  August: Funding is secured for the £30 million Beagle 2 mission to Mars. Beagle 2 will be attached to ESA's Mars Express spacecraft when launched in June 2003, reaching the red planet in December. Beagle 2, carrying instruments under construction in the University Space Research Centre, will then be separated from the main spacecraft, to land on the Martian surface and carry out experiments, including a search for evidence of extinct or extant life.
• Beagle 2 website

2001

• July: The National Space Science Centre opens in Leicester (subsequently renamed the National Space Centre). Over 300,000 visitors exceed expectations in the first year of operation.
• National Space Centre website
• XMM-Newton continues to provide outstanding data for the world's astronomers.

2002

• March: The launch of ESA's ENVISAT spacecraft is shown to schoolchildren at the National Space Centre. ENVISAT is the most powerful space mission to date aimed at monitoring the Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land mass.
• ENVISAT information from ESA

2003

• Launch of the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Mission, which is carrying the UK's Beagle 2 lander probe. Beagle 2 takes off on 2 June at 1845 BST from Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan - and is one of four international missions heading to Mars this year. Beagle 2 is due to land on Mars on Boxing Day 2003 and will spend six months studying the Martian terrain and searching for evidence of life. A unique feature of the Beagle 2 mission is that visitors to the National Space Centre will be able to watch signals being relayed to/from Mars coordinated by Leicester scientists.

2004

• The anticipated Mars landing of Beagle is disappointing with no signals received. The fate of the spacecraft remained unclear. However, the orbiting Mars Explorer was working well.

• 

  SWIFT mission patch (image: NASA)

  20 November: The NASA SWIFT Observatory to study Gamma Ray Bursts is launched from Kennedy Space Centre with key X-ray telescope from Leicester on board.
• SWIFT mission information from NASA
• Cassini-Huygens mission reaches Saturn after a seven-year trek. Leicester scientists lead the study of Saturn’s magnetosphere.

2005

• 4 September: SWIFT detects a coincident gamma and X-ray flash from the collapse of a massive star, forming a black hole in an event occurring 13 billion years ago.

2006

• The National Space Centre welcomes its one millionth visitor.
• Scientists and engineers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India visit the University’s Space Research Centre to finalise design elements of an X-ray camera developed at Leicester for inclusion in Astrosat, India’s first national X-ray astronomy satellite.

2009

• November: SWIFT completes five years of successful in-orbit operation
• December: XMM-Newton completes a decade of near-faultless operation.

2010

• 6-8 July: Current and former colleagues gather in Leicester for a symposium to celebrate fifty years of space science at the University.

2011

• 19-21 September: A symposium is held at Leicester to discuss near to long-term opportunities and possibilities for space based research in the areas of Earth observations, planetary science, astrobiology, extra-solar planetary systems, and economic and societal impact