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Roy Gibson, the first Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) while Lizzie Kerr, former Director of the trade association UKspace, is named a Member of the British Empire (MBE).聽聽

Roy, and has been a leader for multiple international space organisations during his 70-year career, is recognised for his services to space.聽聽

Lizzie, who formerly worked at satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat has provided support to a plethora of UK space related committees, working groups and various stakeholders. She is recognised for her services to the space industry.聽聽

Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:聽聽

I would like to congratulate Roy and Lizzie on behalf of everyone at the UK Space Agency, their recognition in the New Year Honours is fantastic news and thoroughly deserved.聽聽

Roy鈥檚 visionary leadership through the early years ensured ESA鈥檚 enduring success. He has continually championed space and driven forward the UK鈥檚 ambitions.聽 It has been a privilege to spend time with Roy, who is a role mode of expertise, humility, and clarity of thought.聽聽聽

Lizzie has also been a fantastic advocate for the UK space sector, transforming UKspace and ensuring the voice of its members is heard. Lizzie supported the sector through some incredible challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, and her leadership has had a huge impact.鈥澛�

The New Year Honours recognises the achievements of hundreds of people across the UK. There are also significant awards for Paul Fellows, Chair of the Cambridge Astronomical Association, who receives a BEM for services to astronomy; and Professor Martin Wooster, a satellite Earth observation expert at King鈥檚 College London, who is made an MBE for services to landscape fire research and wildfire monitoring.

Professor Nathalie Pettorelli, the Head of Environmental Monitoring and Conservation Modelling at the Zoological Society of London, and the UK principle on the programme board of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), received an OBE for services to conservation and outreach.

In the Overseas and International New Year Honours, planetary scientist and engineer Dr Anthony Freeman, who retired from NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory last year, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to UK/US relations in space and Earth science.

Roy Gibson

As Director General Roy Gibson played a pivotal role in establishing ESA鈥檚 work on space exploration, science and research, laying the groundwork for groundbreaking and Nobel-winning scientific discoveries and promoting international collaboration in space. He oversaw programmes including the Ariane launcher, the joint ESA-NASA space station, Spacelab, ESA鈥檚 astronaut programme, telecommunications and meteorological programmes.聽聽

Roy was also the first Director General of the British National Space Centre, the UK Space Agency鈥檚 predecessor, and was instrumental in its establishment.聽聽

He worked at Inmarsat, a satellite telecommunications company, and at EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. He then served as an aerospace consultant to the EU Commission and played a key role in setting up the European Environment Agency, further developing himself as a trusted expert.聽聽

During his 70-year career, Roy鈥檚 influence, leadership and commitment to scientific enquiry has had a sustained and deeply positive impact on the UK and European space policy, the effects of which continue to facilitate discovery, science and exploration that continues to deepen our understanding of the universe.

Lizzie Kerr

After taking up her role as Director of UKspace in September 2018, Lizzie transformed the organisation and ensured it played an important role in helping shape Government policy, including on the National Space Strategy and regulation of UK launch capabilities.聽

She spent 17 years at Inmarsat including 9 years as the Sales Director for Government Services based in Singapore.聽

Prior to this she served in the Royal Navy and subsequently, whilst at Inmarsat, served in the Reserve forces.聽聽聽

During the Covid-19 pandemic Lizzie worked with the UK Space Agency to maintain an effective flow of information between the space sector and government and provided support for the sector.聽聽

This included a portal for the space sector to provide a central source of relevant up-to-date information, advice and news that would support the national effort to fight the virus and help the government take actions to make the space sector resilient. As well as a weekly Covid-19 sector survey, which helped to inform both government ministers and policy officials.聽

UKspace Chair Doug Liddle said:聽聽

The UKspace team is delighted that Lizzie has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list. As the culmination of her career in space, Lizzie transformed UKspace in her tenure as UKspace Director into the authoritative independent trade association we needed to champion the sector.