From scratchcards to stardust: The National Lottery’s space odyssey

Boosting Space Science and its education, highlights from The National Lottery funding include:

• 26 Space observatories
• 1 Royal observatory
• 11 Planetariums
• 43 Astronomy societies
• 1 National Space Centre

In the mix are some of the most unique places in the UK like Kielder Observatory located in ‘the darkest’ part of the UK, arguably, at Northumberland International Dark Sky Park.

Eleanor Macdonald is an Astronomer and Science Engagement Lead at Kielder Observatory, the perfect person to sum up stargazing and rare sights like the planetary parade.

“It's common to have one or two planets visible,” Eleanor says, “but what’s special about this particular year is just how many planets are visible – naked eye visible.”

What about light pollution?

“It shouldn't stop you from stargazing,” Eleanor explains, “it just might limit you to the brightest things in the sky. You can see Jupiter in the daytime – that's how bright it is. That's something people should get out to see.”

Kielder Observatory has had, almost, £150k via four grants. Meanwhile, it's fast-approaching £150m total to Space Sci (about 10% of funding to the whole of Science). How does Eleanor feel knowing that millions more have gone into Space Science and its education?

“It’s amazing. For every one of us who work within Space Science, I think we've all got that moment, usually when we were kids, where we went to a museum, planetarium, or observatory, where inspiration was sparked, where interest suddenly came alive. So, I think it's amazing that we continue to put money into this, and that people see the worth in that.”

Blast off

Back in 1998, the largest one-off grant for Space Science cleared land and built, over 3 years, The National Space Centre, Leicester. That money (over £30m in two parts) was from The Millennium Commission, a historical part of The National Lottery family of distributors.

Today, CEO Chas Bishop reflects on some achievements as this unique Space Centre closes in on a quarter of a century.

“We’ve had six million visitors since launching in 2001. About 30% are children coming in formal school groups. We complement the classroom.”

As a charity, The National Space Centre has been taking Space education to new heights.

“In 2008 we launched what became the National Space Academy in England, and by 2011 across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland,” says Chas. “In 2024, that delivered GCSE and A-Level support to 16,000 students, of whom 15,000 were given free provision, through a contract with the UK Space Agency – keen to reach young people in schools in disadvantaged areas for whom price would have been a barrier.”

That’s epic yet, like the universe, the impacts are expanding.

“More recently, our relationships with local colleges to deliver post-16 courses have seen 90% going on to Level 4 or higher education, many going to work at Blue Chip companies – one student is doing wing design for Airbus.  That course won the Queen's Anniversary Prize (2024) for Further and Higher education.”

Stellar achievements for people serious about Space. But why should the rest of us care more about Space?

“We couldn't live without Space,” Chas sums up. “You have used Space, probably, a dozen times today without thinking about it. It’s the framework which allows not just Sat Nav but communications, banking, insurance, everything we rely on, day-to-day.”

That’s a great point to ponder the next time you gaze at the stars. Perhaps during National Lottery Open Week,15th-23rd March 2025, when Kielder Observatory and others like Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, are offering deals and perks to those wanting to visit something, literally, out of this world.