Top Award for Spaceflight Magazine

The British Interplanetary Society’s Spaceflight magazine has won the 2008 Sir Arthur C Clarke ‘Best Space Reporting’ award.

The ‘Arthurs’ - known as the space industry's Oscars - pay tribute to those who have worked for the advancement of space exploration in different fields.

Spaceflight editor Clive Simpson said: "We are proud of the magazine which is now in its 51st year of publication and it is a great honour to receive such an award, especially in the month during which Sir Arthur sadly passed away.

"The Arthur is for all of those from all over the world who regularly contribute to magazine and help make Spaceflight a unique publication."

The awards were presented at a black-tie dinner which closed the 2008 UK Space Conference, a glittering occasion attended by many of the top names in the space community.

Nominations for awards are submitted by the public and the winners are voted for by representatives of the space industry, research institutions and universities, and space-related organisations.

This year's awards were a poignant celebration of the life of Sir Arthur who died on 18 March in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, at the age of 90.

The award takes the form of a solid glass block in the proportion of the monolith from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. Etched onto the award is the diagram from Sir Arthur's 1945 paper on global satellite communications.

Other winners included ESA’s Mars Express team (Best Corporate/Team Achievement); Martin Redfern and Heather Couper for ‘Britain’s Space Race’ (Best TV/Radio Presentation); Dave Sington, director of ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ (Best Film); and UK-born NASA astronaut Piers Sellers (Inspiration Award).