Britain has announced a new UK centre for monitoring the Earth from space. Announcing the Earth observation hub, Science minister David Willetts said it will focus on acquiring environmental data, such as information on deforestation and the impact of climate change. The hub will be based at the International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell in Oxfordshire, which will open in April 2011. The aim is to bring together UK expertise in Earth observation. The hub will also be used as a flight operations centre for controlling satellites. In addition, it will develop the expertise to analyse environmental information coming from space, helping scientists learn more about how the planet is being affected by climate change.