London, 17.08.2023.- The UK Space Agency announced on the 8th of August the recipients to receive the first phase of its £20 million International Bilateral Fund investments. These investments are intended to help UK organisations to link up with the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, Singapore, South Africa and form collaborations that will progress space research and investment in new technologies.
The International Bilateral Fund is the Agency’s first fund dedicated to building and strengthening international relationships to help advance the UK’s goals in space. Some projects will focus on enhancing relationships to unlock future economic opportunities for the UK, and others will focus directly on science missions and technologies with strong commercial potential.
“Working with other space agencies and organisations across the globe through our International Bilateral Fund allows us to draw on skills that enhance our homegrown expertise and capabilities, drive up investment in the UK, and support world-class science and discovery,” said Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency. “Projects such as these highlight the many ways in which we can collaborate with the global space community to help humanity push the boundaries of space innovation and unlock commercial opportunities that will benefit our economy now and in the future.”
Among the projects featured is In-Space Missions, a satellite manufacturer, who will work with a dedicated regional Asia-Pacific Government collaboration (incorporating Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia) to develop Faraday Dragon. This will be a multi-agency accelerator programme that will ease the export of novel space technologies and access to space via rideshare missions.
The full list of projects, which will each receive up to £75,000 of the initial £2.1 million pot, can be found here.
