Space Agency Funding Boost for Region’s International Space Projects

International space projects from across the Space South Central region have won funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) in the first phase of its £20 million International Bilateral Fund (IBF), aimed at boosting research and investment in new technologies through worldwide collaborations.

Today (8 August 2023), the UKSA announced support of up to £75,000 each for 32 pioneering projects between UK organisations and partners around the world – including six from the Space South Central region of Hampshire, Surrey and the Isle of Wight.

A Space South Central project to tackle air pollution, weather forecasting and climate change in Singapore was one of the successful IBF bids.  Funding was also awarded to Earth-i (Guildford), In-Space Missions (Alton), LENA Space (Waterlooville), Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) (Guildford) and one of Space South Central’s founding partners, the University of Southampton.

Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:

“Working with other space agencies and organisations across the globe through our International Bilateral Fund allows us to draw on skills that enhance our homegrown expertise and capabilities, drive up investment in the UK, and support world-class science and discovery.

“These projects highlight the many ways in which we can collaborate with the global space community to help humanity push the boundaries of space innovation and unlock commercial opportunities that will benefit our economy now and in the future.”

"Working with Space South Central supports these goals by promoting UK expertise, attracting these partnerships and demonstrating our National Space Strategy vision of a thriving, resilient and well-connected space ecosystem across the whole of the UK.”

The UK’s largest regional space cluster, Space South Central’s remit includes facilitating international collaborations for space-related organisations on a local level.  As part of its recently-launched UK Space: In One Place campaign, it produced a brochure and video introducing the region’s space expertise to international audiences, that local businesses can use in their pitches and promotions.

Dr Louise Butt, Director of the Space South Central Enterprise Network, said:

“It’s great to see so many of our organisations win IBF funding and we’re looking forward to following their projects’ progress. International collaborations are a key part of the National Space Strategy and fundamental to space sector growth and bringing investment and jobs to the region. 

“Although we represent the regional space sector, our businesses – large and small, new and established – and our world-class universities, have a global impact and a breadth of space capabilities unrivalled anywhere in the UK.
“We connect organisations from home and abroad and support our members to access funding and investment opportunities like the IBF.  Our newly-recruited International Partnerships Manager means that we’ll be able to help more Space South Central projects and technology reach a global audience.”

The Space South Central region projects receiving IBF funding, and the countries they’ll be working with, are:

Space South Central and Singapore

Space South Central academics from its partner universities of Surrey, Portsmouth, and Southampton are developing a new Earth observation mission to help Singapore manage climate change.

The project aims to develop new technology to monitor air pollution and atmospheric weather forecasting, to improve climate change measurement and inform disaster response in Singapore, although the findings will also benefit wider regions. 

Global climate change is a national priority for Singapore, which is often impacted by high levels of air pollution, particularly when wildfires in neighbouring countries cause haze. The growing population and economy are increasing water demand and putting pressure on the water supply, which is vulnerable to climate change. 

The Space South Central team, led by the University of Surrey, and UK company Twinparadox Ltd, will work with Singapore’s Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn), Singapore’s Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*Star), the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University. 

They aim to develop a very-low-earth-orbit constellation to monitor areas including air pollution and weather forecasting, using state-of-the-art electronic propulsion, onboard AI processing, miniaturised timing mechanisms and quantum technology-enabled sensors.

The University of Surrey’s Dr William Lovegrove, who leads on international liaison for Space South Central, said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this project by the UK Space Agency and are excited at the prospect of further deeper collaboration with our partners in Singapore. 

“This project, developing critical instrumentation for climate change monitoring, encompasses so much of the newly-announced National Space Strategy by unlocking growth through international collaboration. 

“We would like to express our gratitude to our Singaporean project partners for their commitment to this endeavour.  By combining our expertise and resources, we anticipate creating a new scientific satellite mission that not only addresses global challenges but also fosters stronger ties between our nations in the context of this significant trade agreement.”

Dr Chris Bridges, Principal Investigator for the project from Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, said:

“The cluster team has been working closely with experts in Singapore to understand what’s needed to help the island country cope with climate change. 

“The cutting-edge and disruptive technologies emerging from the Universities of Surrey, Portsmouth and Southampton are combining to solve problems.” 

The University of Southampton and the United States

The university is joining forces with the University of Michigan, a world leader in Hall thruster development, and several UK and US start-ups, to improve the UK’s Hall thruster capability.  By far the most utilised type of propulsion in space, Hall thruster experience here is limited.

Dr Charlie Ryan, an Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, said:

“This project will allow us and our partners to catch up with the rest of the world on the development of key space technology Hall ion thruster propulsion.

“We hope to develop a long-lasting US relationship that will improve the UK’s capability in this key technology, working to develop Hall thrusters that can operate well on alternative propellants.”

Earth-i and the United States

Earth-i is working with Planet Labs PBC in the UK to develop a novel approach to achieving high-revisit surveillance of sites of interest to the defence, security and intelligence community.

In-Space Missions and Singapore, The Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia

In-Space Missions won funding to develop Faraday Dragon, the first Asia-Pacific regional and multi-agency technology and business accelerator programme created to provide regular in-orbit payload rideshare missions. 

The match-funded grant will enable In-Space Missions to set up the collaboration framework and develop the mission definition for Faraday Dragon with partners in the region, working towards the design, build and launch in 2026 of the first in the series of rideshare missions.   

The company will be working with Singapore Space and Technology Ltd, OSTin and A*STAR Research Entities (Singapore), Geo-Informatics, Space Technology Development Agency and Philippines Space Agency, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) and, the National Research and Innovation Agency (Indonesia)

Doug Liddle, CEO of In-Space Missions, said:

“With the Asia-Pacific region being a current focus of UK space export growth, In-Space Missions is thrilled to be leading this bold endeavour to unlock low-cost, predictable space flight and increase technology readiness levels for novel and innovative technologies from the region. 

“Our Faraday Rideshare programmes, where multiple customers share one satellite platform, is a more sustainable way to do space missions and we are committed to limiting space debris in this way and supporting the sustainability aims of the UK Space Agency.”

LENA Space and Taiwan

LENA Space will be working with the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) to develop a concept for a satellite launch vehicle cryogenic turbopump.

LENA Space are specialists in developing turbopump and turbomachinery technology, which is critical for liquid rocket propulsion, and typically considered one of the most complicated parts of the overall engine. 

They will investigate a next-generation methane-oxygen turbopump for the small launch vehicle market, based on in-house design experience and research in collaboration with TASA.

SSTL and Australia

SSTL is working with UK counterparts Assimilia and RALSpace, and CSIRO Space and Astronomy and Smartsat CRC in Australia, to create an integrated ground-to-space national water quality monitoring system.

For more information visit the Space South Central Global Collaborations page here.