Astra is a high power, ultra-short pulse Titanium-sapphire laser facility. It provides pulses of 800 nm light with 40 fs duration at energies up to 500 mJ. With two experimental areas, and focused intensities up to 10¹⁹ Wcm^-2, it offers new and exciting opportunities to researchers investigating the interaction of high-intensity laser light with matter.

Astra is currently being upgraded to give two higher intensity beams - see the Gemini project. The Artemis project will provide ultrashort laser pulses with wavelengths from the deep ultraviolet to the mid-infrared, and at kilohertz repetition rates.