Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage was quick to congratulate Stevenage based Astrium on being awarded the contract by the European Space Agency to build the next generation of the Solar Orbiter.

Stephen, who is Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Space Committee, said "I am delighted that Astrium have secured this massive new contract, which really does put Stevenage at the heart of the Space manufacturing industry in the UK. I am proud Stevenage is leading the way during these difficult economic times and this helps build on the massive £250million infrastructure investment I have secured from the government in our local hospital, schools, housing and jobs."

The solar orbitor will investigate how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the extended atmosphere of the Sun, and is due to be launched in 2017.