• The Space Vault Exhibition showcases one of the UK’s largest private collections of artefacts from human space exploration

• It contains rare and historic objects brought back to Earth from the lunar surface, low-Earth orbit and outer space

• Announcement coincides with 60th anniversary of first human spacewalk.

An exhibition showcasing one of the UK’s largest private collections of space artefacts will open at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum on Saturday 14 June 2025.

The Space Vault Exhibition contains rare and historic objects brought back to Earth from the lunar surface, low-Earth orbit and outer space, from NASA’s Apollo missions and the Soviet space era, to the American and Russian space shuttle programmes, International Space Station and SpaceX.

The announcement that Thinktank is to host The Space Vault Exhibition coincides with the 60th anniversary of cosmonaut Alexey Leonov leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes on 18 March 1965 to make the first spacewalk in history.

During the exhibition, visitors will travel through 12 curated stories of human space exploration via immersive visuals and unique artefacts.

Objects on display will include the mission checklists that saved the crew of Apollo 13 when its oxygen tank exploded, Commander Dave Scott’s spacesuit umbilical through which he communicated his first words as he stepped onto the surface of the Moon and Lunar dust from the Hadley Rille landing site of Apollo 15.

The exhibition will be complemented with an event programme consisting of various space lates using the museum’s planetarium to explore the stories behind the objects and provide a ‘cinema in the stars’ showing the greatest space movies.

General entry to the Space Vault Exhibition will be included in the admission price for Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.

Zak Mensah and Sara Wajid, co-chief executives of Birmingham Museums, said:

“We are delighted to announce that The Space Vault Exhibition is coming to land at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum in June this year.

“This unique exhibition offers an unparalleled opportunity for our visitors to experience close up the awe-inspiring history and future of space exploration.”

Dr Michael Warner, director of The Space Vault Exhibition, said:

“Following its inaugural run at the European Space Agency, I am delighted that Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum is now to host the Space Vault Exhibition, providing an opportunity for the general public to explore these thrilling artefacts.”