AN EDINBURGH space centre has secured a £1m investment from the UK Space Agency to help develop technologies for a major new NASA mission. The UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, will use the funding to support the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The UK Astronomy Technology Centre is based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. “This investment strengthens the UK’s role in a mission that has the potential to transform our understanding of other worlds while creating new opportunities for innovation and collaboration across the UK space sector.” Dr Caroline Harper, Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency, said: “Habitable Worlds Observatory is being designed to answer whether we are alone in the universe and will require technological advances as well as scientific breakthroughs.