Scientists hope to send a satellite into deep space to study solar influences on climate change.
The Earthshine mission would showcase British expertise and provide vital data on climate change.
Principal investigator Mike Lockwood believes going it alone will deliver answers more quickly than joining forces with other nations.
"The need is to get the data quickly," he told BBC News Online. "Science has moved to a point where people are asking questions now that we can't answer because we don't have the data."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2880845.stm