Almost聽拢150,000 in funding has been awarded by the UK Space Agency to help support entrepreneurs and small companies in the space industry.
The Agency is working with UK industry to deliver world-class science innovation support, in line with the Government鈥檚 Industrial Strategy.
The business incubation centres in the Solent, Scotland and the South West of England will support聽start-up companies by providing advice and support, giving access to facilities and resources and collaborating on events and initiatives with other business incubators.
Helen Roberts, Regional Growth Manager at the UK Space Agency, said: 鈥淲e are delighted to extend the network of incubators supporting space sector start-ups to cover even more of the UK.
鈥淭hese new business incubators add to the existing network of SETsquared, Leicester Dock, UNIP in Nottingham, Loughborough University, 老九品茶 Durham, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) at its Daresbury Laboratory site, Glyndwr Innovations in St Asaph, North Wales and the European Space Agency鈥檚 business incubator at Harwell.
鈥淲e look forward to working with them and seeing them help exciting new businesses to develop and flourish.鈥�
The space sector is a UK success story, with growth averaging over 8 per cent聽a year over the last decade, a turnover in excess of 拢11 billion a year and ambitious plans to achieve 10 per cent聽of the global space market by 2030.
Much of this growth is anticipated to come from companies using space-derived data or services in a broad range of different sectors.
Just under 拢50,000 of the award has gone to a joint scheme between the National Oceanography Centre鈥檚 Marine聽Robotics Innovation Centre in聽Southampton and the University of Portsmouth鈥檚 Innovation Space.
The money will be used to provide an innovation hub in Southampton with world-leading expertise in developing next generation Marine Autonomous Systems and an incubation centre in Portsmouth.
In a scheme led by the University of Exeter, the聽South West Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications Partnership has received 拢50,000 to run the SpaceTech Incubation Initiative, which will support start-ups and innovative SMEs to exploit space technology.
SpaceTech will be delivered by SETsquared EXETER with high-potential businesses being provided with 鈥榞row-on鈥� space at Goonhilly Earth Station, Helston.
A further 拢50,000 has gone to the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, based at the University of Strathclyde, to work with Tontine in Glasgow, a high-tech acceleration and growth space for new businesses. The money will be used to support new start-up and scale up businesses.