Call for Proposals: Unlocking Space for Business (UK)

The UK Space Agency’s Unlocking Space for Business programme is seeking to drive greater long-term adoption of space solutions across commercial end-user businesses operating in the Financial Services and Transport & Logistics sectors in the UK. Following a successful 18-month pilot, the programme is entering phase 2 and is continuing to accelerate adoption of space solutions by businesses and catalysing investment into the UK space sector, by providing grant funding to de-risk pilot projects.

Aims

• The USB programme has four aims, which are to:
  • catalyse investment (directly and indirectly) in satellite-derived data, applications and services by non-space businesses in the Financial Services and Transport & Logistics sectors
  • champion the benefits of space for the UK private sector, including supporting the realisation of business outcomes and helping to tackle the climate emergency
  • enhance UK influence and reputation as a global leader in the exploitation of downstream satellite-derived data, applications and services
  • support the wider Unlocking Space programme and growth of the space sector by encouraging new customer groups and market segments

Objectives

• Projects must address at least one of the Strategic Grant Objectives for the end-user business, which are:
  • driving revenue growth
  • improving customer retention
  • enhancing operational and financial efficiency
  • addressing environmental obligations

Scope

• Projects must provide positive economic benefit to an end-user business within either the Financial Services or Transport & Logistics in the UK. Proposals must be UK based, led by UK based organisations.
• Projects must involve at least one satellite data domain (Earth observation, Satcom, PNT), and may involve complementary enabling technologies such as AI, Quantum or Machine Learning.
• Projects must start at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5+ and must progress to at least TRL 7 by the end of the project.
• Projects must be able to demonstrate a tangible benefit to the end-user business within the 7-month maximum project duration. Projects must have clearly defined, and tangible outcomes measured against success criteria showing progress towards commercialisation.

Funding Information

• The UK Space Agency intends to award up to £2,000,000 total funding.
• Up to £400,000 of grant funding is available per project. Total project costs may be higher to account for match funding. In exceptional circumstances, the UK Space Agency reserves the right to adjust the value or duration of the grant funding available.
• The preferred duration of each project is 6 months (September 2025 – February 2026), with a maximum duration of 7 months. Projects must be ready to start by 1 September 2025 and should aim to conclude by 28 February 2026 but must finish by 31 March 2026. Three of the four milestones should be completed by 31st January 2026; a Commercialisation Plan and Final Report should be delivered by 28 February 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

• All successful UK Space Agency grant proposals must follow certain mandatory requirements:
  • The project must be led by a UK organisation who will receive a grant from the UK Space Agency. This can be any type of UK organisation including University-led academic research proposals and Industry-led commercial research proposals
  • Grant recipients must demonstrate the ability to effectively manage a project
  • Grant recipients must have a UK bank account and all grant payments will be made in UK sterling (as per grant funding agreement).
  • As per the terms of the Grant Funding Agreement, the lead organisation will be required to put in place a Collaboration or Flow Down Agreement that ensures all terms and conditions within the Grant Funding Agreement are passed onto project partners. This should be in place with 30 days of signature. This should include provisions regarding how the results of the work, including any IPR and spinouts, will be exploited by project partners.
  • All project members must have in place and provide evidence when requested of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies.
  • All project members must be able to provide evidence that they are GDPR compliant.
  • All project members must provide evidence of a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest.
  • Projects cannot work in areas that are in active conflict and any travel to overseas areas must comply with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice.
  • Projects must pass due diligence checks on company viability and national security (including financial standing assessment, governance assessment, conflicts of interest assessment, national security assessment and technical expertise assessment) – the UK Space Agency reserves the right to withdraw any offer in the event an applicant does not pass any of these requirements.
  • Projects must comply with any call-specific rules stated in the call guidance page.
  • Projects can include non-domestic partners (including those within the EU) who bring their own funding. Applicants should note that all applicants, irrespective of geographic location, must still satisfy the core eligibility requirements set out in this section above and award will be subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence checks.

For more information, visit GOV.UK.