Rare and historic human spaceflight artifacts from above the Earth and to the Moon.

The Space Vault is one of the UK’s largest private collections of artifacts from human space exploration. Our mission is to curate exhibitions, loan artifacts and provide inspiring talks with the purpose of utilising the collection to excite and educate.

Using immersive audio and visuals, and comprising one of the UK’s largest private collections of space artefacts, The Space Vault Exhibition tells the thrilling story of human spaceflight above the Earth and to the Moon, from the Apollo program and Soviet space era, to the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and SpaceX.

Curated from the Space Vault collection, and following a successful inaugural run at the European Space Agency, the Space Vault Exhibition is commencing a five-year public tour across the UK and Europe.   With Oxfordshire at the heart of the UK space industry, and with direct transport from London, the Exhibition is on public display in Henley-on-Thames until the end of June 2025.

​The Space Vault Exhibition is on display in the Kirkham Gallery at the River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames.  Entry to the Exhibition is included in the cost of museum admission.

20% discount available for both day passes and annual passes with the Experience Henley Card. Click here for details to find out more and on how to sign up and download the app.

Inside the Exhibition

Immersive Lunar Landscape

The Space Vault Exhibition is installed within a purpose-built lunar landscape, wrapped around the entire Gallery.  A cinema screen inside the Gallery countdowns every 20 minute to launch the visitor’s experience with the deafening sounds and astonishing imagery of the mighty Saturn V breaking the bonds of Earth’s gravity to transport humans to the Moon.

Unique Space Artifacts

• the mission checklists that saved the crew of Apollo 13 when its oxygen tank exploded
• Commander Dave Scott’s spacesuit umbilical through which he communicated his first words as he stepped onto the surface of the Moon
• astronaut evaluations conducted by Neil Armstrong of Buzz Aldrin, leading to his selection as lunar module pilot for the first Moon landing
• lunar dust from the Hadley Rille landing site of Apollo 15
• heatshield of Salyut 7, one of largest pieces of space debris ever to fall to Earth and go to auction
• Saturn V engine tracking mission control console
• Moon rock drilling equipment engineered for the Apollo 17 mission
• X-rays of Neil Armstrong’s space suit gloves just prior to launch
• Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin’s glove from spacewalks to repair damage to the Mir space station, following the worst collision in the history of space
• Soviet era Strizh spacesuit developed for the Buran space shuttle program
• NASA space shuttle thermal protection panel charred from re-entry to Earth
• Cosmonaut Padalka’s wristwatch worn on the International Space Station for 185 days
• rocket debris from an early SpaceX test flight of the Falcon 9