Charles catches up with Sir Brian May as he hosts a space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace

King Charles seemed delighted to be reunited with Brian May as he hosted a space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace this afternoon.

The 74-year-old monarch welcomed high-profile guests – including Queen rocker and astronaut Major Tim Peake at the official launch of the Astra Carta initiative.

The new campaign will encourage the global private sector to align their space exploration with sustainability goals.

The King first outlined the framework for Astra Carta at the Space Sustainability Summit in June 2022 – when he was still the Prince of Wales.

At the official launch this afternoon, the King seemed delighted to unveil a new plaque featuring the campaign’s logo – designed by Sir Jony Ive.

The former Apple designer also created King Charles’s official coronation emblem earlier this year.

The slogan outlines Astra Carta’s ambitions and reads: ‘Caring for the infinite wonders of the universe.’

Following this, King Charles was photographed mingling with guests — and the monarch stopped to catch up with musician Brian May, 75.

After Brian May rose to fame as lead guitarist for Queen, he also earned his doctorate in astrophysics – having interrupted his studies when the band started in the 1970s.

Brian managed to co-author two scientific research papers: MgI Emission in the Night-Sky Spectrum and An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles (Part I), which were based on Brian’s observations in Tenerife.

He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from the University of Hertfordshire in November 2002, but this title was not enough for him, because he wanted to feel that he deserves the title for this scientific work and not because of his fame as an artist.

Earlier this year, Sir Brian was knighted at Buckingham Palace by King Charles for services to music and charity.

After the service, Brian said, “I’m very happy, with a smile from ear to ear, especially since it was the king, which means a lot.”

The King (pictured) first outlined the framework for Astra Carta at the Space Sustainability Summit in June 2022 – when he was still the Prince of Wales

King Charles pictured speaking to British astronaut Major Tim Peake, who announced his retirement earlier this year at the age of 51

King Charles envisioned unveiling the official Astra Carta plaque at Buckingham Palace this afternoon

Sir Brian May (pictured) was knighted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace in March for services to music and charity

In addition, the king also took time to talk to Major Tim Peake – who was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009 and spent six months on the International Space Station from December 2015.

This morning, the astronaut shared a statement of support for the Astra Carta initiative with his 1.5 million Twitter followers.

It read: ‘Space benefits us all. From medicines, materials, clean energy & water, communication, climate & much more. But we must use the space responsibly.

“It is an honor to support HM King Charles III’s ‘Astra Carta’ initiative – a framework for sustainable space travel embraced at today’s Global Leaders on Space Sustainability Symposium.”

Major Tim, 51, was the first British man to ever walk in space and announced his retirement in January 2023.

Pictured: Sir Brian May and Major Tim Peake are seen talking at a space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace

The Astra Carta will encourage the global private sector to align their space exploration with sustainability goals

King Charles previously met Major Tim in July 2016 – not long after the astronaut returned from his six months in space.

The former test pilot told Charles that his Soyuz capsule experienced extreme temperatures on reentry and landed in Kazakhstan with the force of a minor car crash.

The king, 74, asked, “Are you sure you’re whole?” when they met at the Prince’s Trust center in Bristol, only for the father-of-two to reply that he ‘felt great’.

King Charles has spent decades promoting sustainable, environmentally conscious organizations – and now has his sights set on space travel.

In 2020, the King admitted that people thought he was ‘grossed’ when he started speaking about the importance of environmental protection to the Countryside Steering Committee for Wales.

At the age of 21, Charles gave his first impassioned speech about his personal concern about oil spills and single-use plastics.

He also shared how, as a teenager in the 1960s, he worried about the destruction of trees, wetlands, and habitats, and about “the white heat of progress and technology to the exclusion of nature and our environment.”

In his 1970 speech, Charles highlighted a problem that has become an illustration of humanity’s threat to nature.

Then he had said, “When you consider that each person produces about 2 pounds of waste a day, and that with 55 million of us on this island, we use single-use bottles and indestructible plastic containers, it is not hard to imagine the mountains of waste we will be involved in one way or another.’