Leicester students offered chance to work at US university linked with landmark space missions
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 19 May 2025
Physicists and engineers on one of the UK’s most exciting space-related courses are being offered the chance to study at a US university which has helped develop technologies that have powered historic deep space missions.
Students on the University of Leicester’s 12-month Space Exploration Systems MSc programme learn to develop space systems and missions and gain the advanced space project experience required to meet the needs of the European and international space sectors.
They already have the chance to spend part of their course at universities in either France or Italy and now, thanks to the University developing a strong partnership with American academics, Leicester students are also being given the option to study at the University of Dayton in Ohio.
Professor Nigel Bannister, Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester and Deputy Director of Space Park Leicester, said:
“This teaching collaboration is part of a much larger relationship that exists between our two universities, which has developed as part of the Space Nuclear Power programme.
“Dayton has a long history in this area and has played a key role in the development of US space nuclear power technologies which have powered, and continue to power, some of the most important deep space and planetary exploration missions in history.”
In recent years, University of Dayton researchers developed the layout and assembly procedures for the radioisotope power system that operates the wheels, robotic arms, computers, radio and instruments of Curiosity – the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars.
They also helped NASA to plan the Perseverance mission to Mars and at the end of 2023 NASA selected the University of Dayton as one of eight universities it wanted to partner with to advance technologies for small spacecraft.
US students have spent nearly two months at the University of Leicester and Space Park Leicester this year working with their UK counterparts.
This week, the Leicester students have travelled to Dayton where they will work on a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab project with the US students for around another three months.
Markus Rumpfkeil, Professor and Aerospace Director at the University of Dayton said:
"We are very excited to be able to deepen the bonds between Leicester and Dayton through this program and we are very much looking forward to hosting the inaugural cohort this summer in the birthplace of aviation."
Professor Bannister added:
“We’re very proud to offer this course because it enables students to acquire the knowledge and skills expected by space exploration research groups and the space industry in the 21st century academic and commercial sectors.”
To find out more about the University of Leicester’s Space Exploration Systems MSc course, visit https://le.ac.uk/courses/space-exploration-systems-msc/2025
To explore Space Park Leicester partnerships, missions, residents, facilities, training programmes and innovation products, visit www.space-park.co.uk or to learn more about the University of Leicester visit https://le.ac.uk/
