Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit: satellite constellation ideas
Up to £60m is available for satellite constellation capability R&D that will help boost the UK’s satellite communications sector.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
01/04/2024
Registration Closes
08/05/2024
Award
Up to 75% of ARTES-eligible project costs can be funded, and up to 60% of non-ARTES project costs, depending on size of enterprise and whether you are working with an SME. The UK Space Agency is seeking to award funding of around £5 million to £20 million per project.
Organisation
UK Space Agency
The UK Space Agency Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme will provide up to £160 million of grant funding and contract awards over the next 4 years to UK companies and researchers to develop innovative satellite communications technology.
The objective of the C-LEO programme is to future-proof the UK’s competitive edge in the high-value satellite communication sector by enabling its diversification into the high-growth and strategically important high-volume constellation market.
The objective of the C-LEO programme is to future-proof the UK’s competitive edge in the high-value satellite communication sector by enabling its diversification into the high-growth and strategically important high-volume constellation market, including:
- to accelerate the commercialisation and rapid industrialisation of key technologies and industry capabilities necessary for UK firms to meet demand for high-volume constellation production
- to enable UK firms to secure a significant and sustained share of the high-value contracts due in the next 4 to 5 years that will drive the future sector supply chain
- to develop the UK’s on-shore industrial capabilities in R&D-intensive activities of the constellation value chain
- to catalyse private sector investment in UK high-volume constellation sector by signalling the UK’s commitment to the long-term growth of the satellite communication sector
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Eligibility requirements to receive C-LEO funding are:
- organisations must be UK-based
- commercial companies must have a UK registration at Companies House
- Successful applicants must have a UK bank account and all grant payments will be made in UK Sterling (as per the grant funding agreement).
If you are considering moving to the UK, or you do not have a UK registration, you can seek further guidance from the team by emailing C-LEO@ukspaceagency.gov.uk.
You may partner with non-UK companies, but these must either be self-funded or be funded by other ESA delegates. This requirement refers to project participants and does not represent a domestic input requirement for goods and services purchased to deliver your project.
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This funding will be targeted towards proposals for innovative satellite communication technology in the following five technology areas:
- on-board (regenerative) processing (OBP)
- active antennas
- optical inter-satellite links (OISL)
- networking and routing
- user terminals (UT)
This funding will be targeted towards proposals with technology readiness levels (TRL) of between 4 and 6, with the aim being to raise the proposal to TRL 7 and above. The funding of higher TRL proposals will be considered.
By the end of the funded project, there must be a tangible improvement in the TRL of the technology or a demonstration of advancement in approach (engineering method, technical competence etc).
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The UK Space Agency is seeking to award funding of around £5 million to £20 million per project to a handful of projects through this first call. These sums would need to be match funded by the applicant organisation. For example, an applicant organisation that is eligible for a 40% match funding rate that was seeking C-LEO funding support of £800,000 for a proposal would need to contribute £1.2 million in match funding (equating to a total project cost of £2 million). Large enterprises will need to provide 50-80% as match funding, mediium enterprises 25-65%, and small enterprises 25-55%, depending on contract type and whether or not you are working with an SME: see the link below for details of contract types and definitions of small/medium/large enterprises.
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The UK Space Agency will be running an online webinar on 4 April 2024 (noon-1pm) which will be recorded for those who are unable to attend. During this webinar, we will go through how to fill in the EoI form. There will be an opportunity for questions to be submitted after the webinar, and answers will be published in our FAQ guidance note. Register to attend the webinar.
If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Space team.
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This first C-LEO call will require applicants to complete a short online expression of interest (EoI) form by midday on Wednesday 8 May 2024. If the applicant is a consortium or collaborative bid, the lead partner should complete and return the EoI form.
Applicants that are successful at the Expressions of Interest stage will then be invited to the application form stage and given 6 weeks to complete an application form.
