More support for UK space businesses as government puts £15M on table

The government has unveiled a new £15 million fund to support UK space businesses for the development of satellite communications technology.

The competition, running until next spring, aims to focus on creating entire new satellite constellations, ground systems or delivering new services to customers.

Ideas can focus on creating entire new satellite constellations, ground systems or delivering new services to customers, and will be funded through the UK Space Agency’s leading role in the European Space Agency (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Services (ARTES) programme.

The £15 million fund comes as a new report, Impact Evaluation of UK Investment in the European Space Agency, found that every £1 invested in the agency generated an overall return of £11.80 for the UK economy.

The report also showed the UK is in the top three nations in terms of scientific output, behind Germany and the USA.

The UK’s annual contribution of €420-450 million represents around 10 per cent of the European Space Agency’s €5 billion annual budget.

The UK is now one of ESA’s top four contributors along with France, Germany and Italy.