The report "University of Cambridge: 'Goldilocks' and the three bids" (Campus round-up, 29 July) is misleading. Cambridge has not "topped a shortlist". As the UK Space Agency's press release on the subject makes clear, the institution is involved with, but does not lead, two of the three proposed missions.
Euclid is led by University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL). "Cambridge's Plato project" is, rather, the international Plato Science Consortium, led by Queen's University Belfast and including UCL's MSSL, which receives the majority (65 per cent) of the funding.
Of the Solar Orbiter project's 10 proposed instruments, the Solar Wind Analyser consortium is led by the MSSL, which also provides the science lead for the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager.
Alan Smith, Director, Mullard Space Science Laboratory University College London.