UK Space Agency allocates first funding under space partnerships programme

The UK Space Agency has announced the funding of seven new space projects that will see UK companies working with international partners to develop satellite technology in emerging economies.
This is the first round of the International Partnerships…

The UK Space Agency has announced the funding of seven new space projects that will see UK companies working with international partners to develop satellite technology in emerging economies.

This is the first round of the International Partnerships Space Programme (IPSP), a two-year scheme established and led by the UK Space Agency that will allocate £32m of grants to generate new opportunities for the UK space industry.

Avanti is the main supplier for two of the chosen projects. The first, called iKnowledge, sees it work with the Tanzania Universal Communications Service Access Fund, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organisation to equip up to 250 schools in rural and underserved areas of Tanzania with Ka-band satellite broadband services.

The second is called SBAS Africa and see Avanti work with the South African Space Agency to deliver an air navigation project in Africa, SBAS-AFRICA, powered by satellite technology.

Inmarsat is also participating in IPSP and is working with Equity Bank Kenya and Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) on I-Sat Connection. This project sees the MSS operator provide satellite connectivity to Equity Bank Kenya to deliver digital services at over 200 locations across the country, and to MAMA so that maternal and child health services will be brought to 50 disconnected rural communities.

Surrey Satellite Technology is working with Ghalam LLP in Kazakhstan to jointly develop the KazSTSAT small satellite mission. The IPSP grant will aid in the development of a mission operations system to handle the high volume of Earth observation data that the satellite will provide.

Scottish satellite developer Clyde Space is to work with American company Outernet to develop a telecommunications service that can be offered via a constellation of low-cost cubesat satellites.  Outernet’s goal is to offer a near continuous broadcast of humanitarian data to those most in need.

Another Scottish firm, Stevenson Astrosat, is working on the Recovery And Protection in Disaster (RAPID) system that is designed to provide a vital link between satellite imaging information and ‘in the field’ emergency responders making decisions during and in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Finally, Teratech Components is collaborating with China’s Xi’an Institute of Space Radio Technology (CAST Xi’an) to develop instrumentation for the next generation of weather forecasting and disaster management satellites.

The projects are all funded until March 2016.