Sentinel-4, a key Earth observation mission calibrated with CfAI’s Optical Ground Support Equipment (OGSE), is now in orbit.

On the 20th of June, the UK Space Agency celebrated the National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) Technology Showcase at the Royal Society, in London.

This MoU renews our commitment to collaborative research, academic exchange, and the strengthening of scientific and cultural ties between our institutions.

A celebration of science fiction music with readings from CfAI scientists

Congratulations to Amrit Nayak for winning the Physics Department's Keith Nicholas Prize for 2025.

The The Royal Society have released their Space 2075 perspective. CfAI staff were there to join the launch event.

Kathryn Barrett is awarded with the The Ella Bryant Prize for Physics

We want to thank the amazing international BlueMUSE team who are in the process of finishing up their concept review with ESO.

CfAI researcher, Ollie Farley, has been awarded funding from ARIA: Forecasting Tipping Points to develop climate science instrumentation.

These awards recognise talents from the Canary Islands in multiple disciplines, such as: sustainability, biodiversity, solidarity, sports or culture.

A complete events listing of all CfAI Seminars coming up during 2025

CfAI leads new inter-disciplinary Space Research Centre

"The day the satellites stood still", a story exploring the everyday reliance on satellites and space data.

Chris Graham, Perrine Lognone, Ollie Farley and Ariadna Calcines Rosario, from CfAI, participated in the International Conference on Space Optics, hosted by ESA and CNES.

The results of this project demonstrate that lightweight, space-grade housing with complex geometries can be realised through additive manufacturing.

Researchers from CfAI were at the Centre for Life in Newcastle on Saturday, 5th October, for World Space Week to present an experiment on the theme “Space & Climate”.

CfAI celebrates ESTRELLAS: Women in Tech & Sciences On the 20th of September we celebrate ESTRELLAS: Women in Tech & Sciences at Durham University.

On the 24th of July 2024 the CfAI PhD students did a great job producing posters and presenting them to members of the group

First light of Little iLocator spectrograph at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)

The Wavefront Sensing in the VLT/ELT Era VIII Workshop is being held this year at Durham University from the 23rd to the 25th to September.

Ariadna Calcines Rosario, CfAI Head of Optical Design, Awarded the Best Oral Presentation at the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation Conference

We were delighted to host the Space Optics: Systems and Applications workshop 2024 here in Durham.

Today, we bid farewell to the METIS Integral Field Unit pupil mirror array, crafted from 28 meticulously designed slices and a composite planar fold mirror.

The Royal Astronomical Society has awarded the RAS Group Achievement Award 2024 to the team of the instrument MIRI for the JWST.

Dr. Rob Harris joins CfAI as Assistant Professor in Astrophotonics

Our dedicated team of CfAI staff actively engaged in the 'Spotlight on... Satellites' event, hosted at the Centre for Life in the heart of Newcastle

CfAI hosted the first Postgraduate Summer School on Space applications in Science and Industry funded by STFC

CfAI has participated in the optics for the NOMAD instrument, a crucial component of the TGO missions and that this instrument is making groundbreaking discoveries.

Our scientists and engineers are at the forefront of global innovation. Experts from our world-leading Physics Department are leading on two pioneering projects.

Leveraging a £200k investment from Viasat, Durham University will focus on developing free-space optics (FSO) turbulence channel characterisation for optical feeder links

We are pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2023 European Adaptive Optics Summer School.

Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes is the largest conference in the field. 6 CfAI researchers will be presenting their work this year.

CfAI members will participate to a workshop in Chiang-Mai Thailand organised by NARIT on Freeform Optics between the 27th and 30th of May 2023.

CfAI's Katy Hartley has been interviewed by TvCanaria, for her ground-breaking work demonstrating the first on-sky scintillation correction.

Durham University Orchestral Society collaborated with the Durham Physics astronomer’s and instrument scientists in a performance of Holst’s The Planet Suites.

Dr Ariadna Calcines awarded the Young Female Scientist Talent Prize is awarded by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain.

Communication and Observations through Atmospheric Turbulence conference to be held in Durham, March 2023

Lisa Bardou and Ryan Griffiths test the SHIMM instrument at Paranal, Chile