News

China launches 18 satellites into space

China says it has launched 18 satellites into space in an effort to enhance its orbital network, Euronews reports.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said the Long March-6 carrier rocket had reached its pre-programmed orbit without incident.
The launch of the satellites is part of a programme by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology which is planning to create a network of 15,000 'Low Earth Orbit satellites' in space by 2030.

  

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Radio 4's Inside Science features UK Space Agency-funded projects tackling space debris problem

On Radio 4’s Inside Science on 1 August 2024 (from start, sign up required), Victoria Gill spoke to Jason Forshaw from Astroscale UK about the problem of space debris and the threats it poses to infrastructure and society.
The UK Space Agency is supporting Astroscale UK’s space debris removal and sustainability projects.

Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots to help UK satellite operators avoid collisions

The National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) has announced a new feature, called Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots, to its Monitor Space Hazards platform to helps operators avoid collisions by visualising manoeuvre options available to them.
With an average of 1,900 collision risks every month affecting UK satellites, the ability to plan and undertake precise satellite manoeuvres is essential for preventing avoidable collisions in Earth’s increasingly important and crowded orbital environment.  
By allowing satellite operators to visualise the manoeuvre options available to them at any given time during a potential collision situation and identify the most effective collision avoidance strategies, these plots not only reduce the risk of in-orbit collisions but also ensure the efficient use of fuel and other resources for satellite longevity.

Clean up space in new online game from Astroscale

Space company Astroscale have recently launched Space Protector, inviting everyone to try their hand at cleaning up the space environment in a game based on Astroscale's mission, COSMIC, which designed to tackle the problem of space debris by removing defunct satellites from orbit. 
Players are challenged to safely approach and capture a client satellite with a robotic arm, without running out of time or fuel.  The game can be played online through a desktop web browser, and has three difficulty levels to challenge event the most accomplished pilot.  Play now on their website. 
Featured image courtesy of Astroscale.

New venture capital fund to invest in sustainable space initiatives.

Space News have reported that British financial advisor Citicourt & Co are aiming to raise £100m for their first venture capital fund which would support space sustainability-focused opportunities.  
Citicourt & Co recently hired Stuart Martin, former CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, as part of this new direction.
The fund will provide investment into early space companies for 12-18 months, after which they would need to seek further funding. 

Size & Health of the UK Space Industry 2023

Published on Friday by the UK Space Agency, the Size and Health of the UK Space Industry 2023 research represents the latest annual research of the UK space sector.
The report is the UK’s key source of information on the UK space sector. Comprising a survey of UK organisations who supply and/or use space or satellite services – from upstream manufacturing right through to downstream satellite-enabled application. This is supplemented by a programme of desk-based research. 
The study tracks key characteristics within the sector including space-related income, employment, number of organisation and investment. It also measures if the sector is growing, and highlights the nature and source of the growth, including trends within sub-sectors, sources of income, and future expectations.
Key Findings:
The industry numbered 1,765 organisations, a net increase of 175 since last year. 31% of UK space income (£5.8 billion) was generated through exports. Sector R&D investment sat at £965m, equivalent to 5.1% of Industry income, up from 4.5% in 2020/21. At 13.5% of sector GVA, this was 6 times more R&D intensive than the UK average. Labour productivity (GVA per employee) was estimated at £137,910 in 2021/22– 2.3 times the UK average. An exceptionally skilled workforce, with over 4 in 5 (80%) employees holding at least a bachelor’s degree. Despite a decrease of £142m (-0.7%) from 2020/21, medium-term sector growth remains strong with income increasing by £503m (+2.7%) since 2018/19. Employment rose from 48,800 to 52,000, representing 6.7% growth.  
 
Read the Report Infographic_Size___Health_of_the_UK_Space_Industry_2023.pdf

  

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Funding Boost for Cutting-edge UK Space Technology

More than 20 national space projects were announced by DSIT Secretary of State Peter Kyle on the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow.
The projects, worth £33 million in total, come from the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme – designed to invest in high-potential technologies, drive innovation and unlock growth across the UK.
Of the 20 projects 7 fund the development of technologies which are directly relevant to space sustainability, representing investment worth £5.1m:
SPITFIRE (Servicing Propellant Interface Technology For In-orbit Refuelling Effectiveness): £1.3 million  
Led by Orbit Fab in partnership with MDA Space and Robotics, and the University of Southampton.  
The project will develop a full high-pressure interface solution to flight qualification level. This will bring together all the critical elements of refuelling for a UK-developed pressure agnostic interface solution that could be used on all future Orbit Fab refuelling missions in the pipeline. 
Proximus Prime: Autonomous vision-based Rendezvous Proximity Operations (RPO) demonstration mission in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) using Small Satellites: £1 million 
Led by Lúnasa in partnership with Orbit Fab. 
Lúnasa intends to co-engineer, integrate and test its autonomous Rendezvous Proximity Operations (RPO) Kit around Orbit Fab’s commercially available satellite docking and refuelling interface. Lúnasa will deploy the RPO Kit into Space and perform a first-of-its kind commercial satellite autonomous close-proximity demonstration between two MicroSats.
SuperMagdrive: £1 million 
Led by Magdrive in partnership with Orbit Fab and the University of Southampton. 
This project will develop and scale up Magdrive’s plasma propulsion system - ‘SuperMagdrive’. The project focuses on development of the power system, ultimately demonstrating the technology with a test fire. Applications of this technology range from rendezvous and proximity operations to in space refuelling operations, contributing to a more sustainable space. 
TARS-IOD: Flight-ready model for In-Orbit Demonstration of Tomorrow’s Astro-Robotic System: £800,000 
Led by Lodestar Space in partnership with Momentus Space, Growbotics and University of Glasgow.  
Lodestar Space will develop a platform-agnostic modular robotic arm to perform contact dependent dynamic space operations. Intended for flight on Momentus’ Vigoride platform, the partnership also involves Growbotics and the University of Glasgow to equip the UK with sovereign capabilities for inspecting, protecting, and repairing vital assets beyond Earth. 
ABEP (Air Breathing Electric Propulsion) Intake End-To-End Simulation & Design: £390,000 
Led by Stellar Advanced Concepts in partnership with the University of Manchester. 
The project will work on simulating an Air Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system to unlock new capabilities in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). 
CLASP (Capture of Large Spacecraft): £310,000   
Led by ClearSpace Today in partnership with the Satellite Applications Catapult.  
The project will develop a versatile capture mechanism for large unprepared satellites. The development involves analysing potential clients and identifying safe capture locations, creating a simulation tool for studying capture scenarios and trialling a robotics system based on the preliminary design of the capture mechanism. 
Biocomputer System for Space Biomanufacturing: £300,000 
Led by BiologIC Technologies in partnership with Axiom Space. 
The project will optimise BiologIC Technologies’ biomanufacturing system, built using world-leading biocomputer technology, to withstand space launch, operate in microgravity and ensure compatibility with space infrastructure. 
Read the Press Release

ESA Space Environment Report Published

The European Space Agency (ESA) have recently published the latest version of their Annual Space Environment Report.  
The report highlights that:
Earth’s orbital environment is a finite resource. More satellites were launched in 2023 than in any year before. The number and scale of commercial satellite constellations in certain low-Earth orbits continue to increase. Not enough satellites leave these heavily congested orbits at the end of their lives. Satellites that remain in their operational orbit at the end of their mission are at risk of fragmenting into dangerous clouds of debris that linger in orbit for many years. Active satellites must perform an increasing number of collision avoidance manoeuvres to dodge out of the way of other satellites and fragments of space debris. The adoption of space debris mitigation measures is slowly improving, but it is still not enough to stop the increase of the amount of space debris. Without further change, the collective behaviour of space-faring entities (private companies and national agencies) is unsustainable in the long term. ESA have published a summary of the report's findings, and a copy of the full report is available to download from the Resources section of this hub.
 

Farnborough International Airshow

The UK Space Agency Space Sustainability team joined colleagues at Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday 23 July.

Farnborough International Airshow is held once every two years, at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre.  The show predominantly caters to the aviation and defence sectors, but has a dedicated Space Zone.

The UK Space Agency had a significant presence with a large stand, incorporating two small meeting rooms, desks hosting industry colleagues, and an interactive pufferfish display providing data on missions supported by the Agency.  Numerous staff were on hand to answer questions and engage with stakeholders. 
There were talks and panels organised through the week, including hearing from ESA AStronaut Rosemary Coogan and ESA Reserve Astronaut John McFall, an ESA Moon to Mars panel featuring Libby Jackson, Head of Exploration, an ESA EO panel “From Earth Observation to Earth Action” with Harshbir Sangha. Director of Earth Observation and “Women in the space sector: experiences, challenges & opportunities” panel moderated by Annelies Look, Deputy CEO, UK Space Agency.
Announcements included finalists of the Aqualunar Challenge, £33m in funding awards through the National Space Innovations Programme (NSIP) , several of which fund technology related to Space Sustainability, and a plan to build on the success of the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell. 
There was an announcement that Tim Peake will be joining Axiom as strategic advisor for an all-UK human spaceflight mission, and Peter Kyle, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)’s new Secretary of State, delivered his first speech at the airshow on Monday.
Several members of the Sustainability team were present on the stand for a "Meet the Teams" session on Tuesday morning, then had numerous meetings throughout the day with both new and existing stakeholders.  
The event was a great success and we look forward to returning in 2026.

  

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Startup to produce orbital ‘first responder’ for satellites

London-based startup Lodestar are developing a robotic arm that they hope will be part of a “first responder” service in space.
Partly funded by the UK Space Agency, through the National Space Innovation programme, Tech Crunch reports that Lodestar is developing a platform-agnostic robotics system, starting with a dexterous robotic arm, designed to inspect and repair assets on orbit.
 
Image Credit: Lodestar

Our Fragile Space Exhibition at Summit for Space Sustainability

The "Our Fragile Space" photography exhibition by Max Alexander about the reality of space debris will be on show at the Summit for Space Sustainability, sponsored by the UK Space Agency.
•    Read about the Exhibition

Scholarship Winners Announced

Published: 30 June 2024
The UK Space Agency has partnered with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) and Secure World Foundation (SWF) to bring eight students or young professionals to attend the 6th Summit for Space Sustainability in Tokyo.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Read Award Announcement

Zero Debris Charter (ZDC) Signed

Published: 30 June 2024
On 22 May the UK joined 11 other countries in signing the Zero Debris Charter (ZDC), a broad community-driven and community-building initiative for the global space community.
The Charter contains both high-level guiding principles and ambitious, jointly defined targets to enable the space community to achieve the goal of Zero Debris by 2030.
Read Press Release Download the Charter

UK-Funded Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Training Events

Published: 30 June 2024
Under the Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines project, the UK funded the UNOOSA to organise free to access training events on publicly available SSA tools.
These events took place on 3-4 June involving over 300 attendees, with the US demonstrating their Space-Track service and the EU demonstrating their Collision Avoidance Service. 
Event programme and presentation slides Project overview Read the Guidelines  

Office of Regulation at UNOOSA

Published: 30 June 2024


The UK Space Agency attended the first United Nations Conference on Sustainable Lunar Activities by its Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna on 18 June 2024.
This conference was an important first step in highlighting the importance of Lunar Sustainability to ensure safe and sustainable lunar exploration into the future. The conference highlighted important topics in sustainable lunar exploration such as international cooperation, lunar environmental considerations, sustainable lunar disposal practices, consultation, interoperability, due regard, scientific investigation as well as information sharing and capacity building.
Team members also attended UNOOSA's Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) Plenary, the third annual COPUOS meeting. Topics for discussion generally include maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes, safe operations in orbit, space debris, space weather, the threat from asteroids, the safe use of nuclear power in outer space, climate change, water management, global navigation satellite systems, and questions concerning space law and national space legislation.
 
Read Event Summary

  

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National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) Launched

Published: 30 June 2024
In May Science Minister Andrew Griffith and Minister for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge launched the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC). 
NSpOC operates the UK’s space surveillance and protection capabilities and is responsible for multiple mission sets including missile warning, uncontrolled re-entry early warning, fragmentation monitoring, in-space collision avoidance protection services and support to HMG and international partners.
If you would like to receive the monthly NSpOC Hazards and Risk Report (also known as the Civil Operations Dashboard) or have any comments or questions, please contact us at nspoc@ukspaceagency.gov.uk. 
You can learn more about us at www.gov.uk/nspoc.
•    NSpOC Website

Space Regulatory Review:

Published: 30 June 2024
Launched in May, the Space Regulatory Review establishes key regulatory priority areas for the UK’s space sector to maintain its innovative, attractive, and competitive regulatory environment.
Developed in collaboration with over 100 industry representatives, this new report offers a unified regulatory roadmap for the future of the UK space sector and our flourishing space economy.  
Read Press Release Read the Review

  

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Atmospheric Ablation Study Awarded

Published: 30 June 2024

The University of Southampton has been announced as the successful bidder for a study to assess the potential impact of satellites burning up in Earth’s atmosphere (atmospheric ablation). 
Dr Minkwan Kim, Associate Professor in Astronautics at the University of Southampton, is leading the study and said:
•    Read Press Release

  

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Refuelling Studies Mid-Term Reviews (MTRs)

Published: 30 June 2023
Mid-term reviews are in progress for the four refuelling feasibility studies awarded in February, designed to complement a potential national ADR mission.  These are led by Astroscale, ClearSpace, Orbit Fab and Thales Alenia Space and all due to complete later this year.
Read Press Release

  

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Opportunities and Value of the IOSM Market

Published: 30 June 2024
In addition to the Capabilities Roadmap study call, a further study call for £208k was launched at the IOSM Conference on the Opportunities and Value of the IOSM Market.
The successful bidder will be announced after the general election.

  

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IOSM Capabilities Roadmap Study Call Awarded

Published: 30 June 2024
Following publication of the IOSM Capabilities Part 1: IOSM Priorities Paper in June 2023, a £250k study call for Part 2 was launched at the IOSM Conference and awarded to Growbotics.  This report will: 
Expand technology categorisation as a basis for capabilities analysis; Establish current and planned capabilities through engagement with wider sector community; Understand gaps in UK technology capabilities for IOSM missions, services and technologies that can be addressed to remain competitive as a nation; Create greater understanding of UK technology strengths and weaknesses in IOSM; and Enable improved decision making for targeted government support.  

  

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Active Debris Removal (ADR) Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Published: 30 June 2024
Following the successful completion of Phase 1 Preliminary Design Reviews, a £4.7m Invitation to Tender (ITT) was launched to undertake Phase 2 research and technology development to derisk concepts for a potential national ADR mission.  
The ITT launched at the IOSM Conference in May and closed on 14 June 2024. The successful bidder(s) will be announced after the general election.
Read the ITT details

UK Space Agency Space Sustainability Video Update

Published: 30 June 2024
The UK Space Agency has recently updated our Space Sustainability video to showcase our varied portfolio of work.  

This involved visits to the Satellite Applications Catapult IOSM Test Facility at Westcott to film the facilities there which are being upgraded thanks to £2m of UK Space Agency funding, and also to Southbank International School to present to students doing a project on Space Sustainability, and seek the views of the next generation.

The new version of the video will be shown in public for the first time at the Summit for Space Sustainability in Tokyo, before being made available on social media.
Watch the new video Version with captions  
 
 
 
 
 

UK’s First In-Orbit Servicing & Manufacturing (IOSM) Conference

Published: June 30 2024
 

The inaugural UK IOSM conference, co-hosted by the UK Space Agency and Satellite Applications Catapult, took place on 8-9 May 2024.
Nearly 300 national and international delegates gathered on the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire to discuss the present and future of IOSM within the UK, Europe and beyond.
Day 1 started with welcomes from the CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, and COO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, Lucy Edge, followed by plenary sessions on national IOSM capabilities, investments and opportunities, global perspectives and challenges, and end-to-end space sustainability.  There were also SME pitches, exhibitors, and an evening networking reception.


On Day 2 the conference split into three streams, for panel sessions on Technology; Applications; and Regulation, Skills & Investment. Discussions covered diverse topics such as ADR, artificial intelligence and robotics, manufacturing, refuelling and in-orbit servicing, funding innovations, the future workforce, and licensing of IOSM activities.
Several key announcements were made at the conference, including an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for phase 2 of a potential national ADR mission, calls for studies into the opportunities and value of the IOSM market, and gap analysis to produce an IOSM technology roadmap.  The successful bidder for the Atmospheric Ablation study call was also announced.  See below for more information on all these announcements.


Feedback regarding the conference was very positive and plans are already in motion for the second conference in 2025.
Read media article

Space Security

Published: 30 April 2024
The UK Space Security Team are working in collaboration with ESA on a range of projects covering Space Weather, Space Debris and Planetary Defence. This includes the CleanSpace initiative, Active Debris Removal In Orbit Servicing (ADRIOS), Hera asteroid deflection, the Zero Debris Charter, and more.