STFC

The STFC is the overarching body of funding for UK research into physics, astronomy and space sciences. It has an annual budget of £483 million for 2013/2014 and currently supports the activities of several thousand people in a wide range of analytical facilities.

STFC inherited the Rosetta mission from its predecessor, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). PPARC was previously responsible for the funding of UK space science; with a €90 million (£73.2 million) contribution to ESA and £8.35 million spent on the Ptolemy instrument built by the OU and RAL Space, and the Plasma Interface Unit for the Rosetta Plasma Consortium, built by Imperial College London.

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/home.aspx