The University of Portsmouth has been successful in its bid to host a European Space Agency (ESA) UK ambassador.

Each month, we aim to bring together a curated list of the latest and best in funding opportunities for businesses working in the space sector across the South-Central Region.

Robert Hauge spoke at Space Comm President from SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman and thinks they have found a solution to the ever-growing space debris with satellite life extension.

Following the successful completion of the CLEAR mission feasibility study, the consortium, including the University of Surrey, has been awarded a £2.2M follow-up contract by the UK Space Agency to perform the preliminary mission design stage for a new project.

ASAT or Anti-Satellite Weapons are space weapons designed to destroy or damage a satellite beyond repair. No ASAT system has been used in Warfare but countries such as Russia, China and the USA have used them to shoot down their own satellites, in a show of force and to bring down decommissioned satellites. This “testing” causes more space debris to form, accelerating the Kessler effect.

This year's theme for World Space Week is sustainability. Making space greener is massively important to our world, nation and region. We attended Space Comm 2022 last month and one of the hotly debated topics was Space Sustainability. It's incredibly important to have discussions about how the sector can be more sustainable at a time when it is growing at such a rapid rate. With a new space age on the horizon, what are leading space businesses doing to help improve sustainability in space?

Space South Central held the first meeting of its Advisory Board on 26th September, hosted at the Surrey Research Park. Board members represent a terrific cross section of organisations from across the whole South Central region, all committed to contributing their time an effort to help translate Space South Central’s objectives into actions relevant to the region, promote strategic regional coherence, set priorities and provide direction to ensure objectives are delivered.

A new space weather monitoring system, developed by the University of Surrey, could soon protect aircraft flying above the UK and the general public from harmful radiation caused by spikes in cosmic rays.

Local company space company SSTL announced that it had signed a contract with EECL, an engineering consultancy providing design, manufacturing and test services to the satellite and aerospace sector.

BAE Systems and In-Space Missions unveil plans for a new satellite cluster, as part of the Azalea programme.

ADS and UKSpace release their new Space Sector Outlook guide.

September’s Funding Flash. A list of funding opportunities available in the UK.

Space South Central members met at Surrey Research Park on 31 August to establish the first benchmarks to drive the economic benefits the space sector offers in the region.

The Space South Central partnership, which launched at the Farnborough International Airshow, brings together more than 120 academic institutions, private companies and public sector organisations in Surrey and Hampshire, helping to support and guide those established within the space industry and those looking to break into it.

You have probably seen the phrase ‘REF’ making appearances all over the internet over the last week. And perhaps you don’t know exactly what it means? For universities, it’s a huge day in the calendar.

Last week Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, visited the University of Portsmouth to hear about the future plans for the south-central region’s space sector and meet key regional stakeholders including the University of Surrey, SSTL and those involved in the developing Space South Central partnership.

An event to launch the University of Portsmouth’s ambitious new ‘Mission Space’ strategy brought together over 100 key players in the space sector this week. The event was chaired by Lord David Willets who the government announced on Tuesday as the new Chair of the UK Space Agency’s Board.

Last week the UK Space Agency released the latest Size and Health report on the UK space industry. The report is the primary source of evidence used to track the growth of the UK space sector and is an important resource used for government decision making, whilst informing the delivery of the National Space Strategy.