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The Plato machine – with a whopping 34 telescopes – will spy on galaxies beyond the solar system looking for Earth-like planets where life might exist.

Project leader Don Pollacco, from Warwick University, said: “A few years ago this would have been science fiction but now it is coming to pass as science fact.”

Plato is being built by the European Space Agency and is due for launch in 2024. It will be capable of monitoring up to one million stars.

Science minister David Willetts said: “When we travel beyond the solar system to new worlds, the first planet may have been identified by Plato.”

Professor Pollacco added: “This is fantastic news for Europe. Plato will allow the first survey of nearby planets for indications from advanced life forms.”

Dr Heike Rauer, of the Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Berlin, will head the mission. She said: “Plato will begin a completely new chapter in the exploration of planets.

“We will find planets that orbit their star, planets where liquid water is expected, and where life as we know it can be maintained.”

Experts recently discovered stardust contained water and oxygen, suggesting alien life is possible.

Hope Ishii, of the University of Hawaii, said: “The implications are huge.”

In January a UFO sighting grounded planes at a German airport for several hours.

And in 2003 festivalgoers spotted an unidentified space craft at Glastonbury.

Meanwhile, Major Tim Peake, 41, who will be the first British astronaut to work on the International Space Station in November, said yesterday: “It is a huge privilege to be able to fly to space.”