King to end Bermuda trip by launching UK space project

King Charles will complete his visit to Bermuda by officially launching the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA) Project Nova, which will help track space debris.

Charles is expected to visit the site of the new UKSA observatory on the island to hear about the initiative to oversee the installation of a global network of telescopes spanning five sites to help monitor legacy satellites, rocket stages and other objects.

The King will also open the new Great Bay Coastguard Station, where he will hear about the Royal Bermuda Regiment Coastguard’s work to protect the island’s territorial waters and marine environment.

The British monarch will see two new technologies used by the regiment: unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Young people from the Young Leader program will discuss their participation in the program and the King will award operational service medals to five members for their dedication to the protection of Bermuda.

On Friday the King attended a garden party and jokingly apologized to guests: “I am told that this is the first time in Bermuda’s 400-year history that a King has reigned over the islands.

“I’m so sorry it took so long!”

The event was held at the newly refurbished UK Government House, where the King stayed during his three-day visit and told guests it still smelled of fresh paint.

Toasting Bermuda at the garden party, Charles said: “I need hardly say that Bermuda, like all the Overseas Territories, is a most valued and important member of the British family – a friendship as firm as the so-called ‘Rock’.”