£2.5 million for satellite data pilots to benefit citizens and businesses

Ten projects have been awarded £2.5 million as part of the UK Space Agency's Unlocking Space for Business programme.

The pilot projects, which have been awarded grants of up to £400,000 each, will trial new solutions that use satellite data and services to support transport, logistics and financial services. 

The trials will combine terrestrial data and technology (such as AI, quantum, machine learning and geospatial data) with satellite data and services, and provide deeper analysis to develop insights and present new solutions to UK customers.   

One project with Sports City Management Company aims to enhance visitor travel to the Etihad Campus, which is home to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and the new Co-op Live arena, by reducing congestion and increasing the sustainability of fan travel.  

The project will support the development of an AI-enabled travel demand solution, using satellite data from the European Space Agency's Copernicus Open Access Hub and Sentinel satellites, to predict patterns in the travel of music and sports fans at major events. Coupled with machine learning, this provides transport operators and event planners with insight into congestion points, public transport requirements and crowd flow. This will be tested in a partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).  

Elsewhere, Octopus Investments has partnered with Treeconomy, a company that uses AI and remote sensing to measure the impact of nature restoration projects. This project will use a variety of satellite-based Earth observation data sources including Landsat and Sentinel-2, as well as AI and localised drone-based data, to support the monitoring and evaluation of nature projects and a suite of core environmental metrics to inform investment decisions.  

This will increase confidence and improve the allocation of private finance towards high-quality, measurable and trusted nature and conservation efforts.

DSIT Minister Chris Byrant said:

This government is embracing the power of technology to improve lives and support businesses to thrive. We have a fast-growing space sector in the UK but for too long we have struggled to tap the huge potential of satellite data to drive positive change in the real world. These new projects seek to unlock this potential by combining data from space with cutting-edge technologies here on Earth.

Unlocking Space for Business is delivered by the UK Space Agency to foster innovation by combining satellite data and services with other data sources and technology, to drive benefits for businesses.This could include new revenue growth, operational efficiencies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) benefits. 

As well as the grants, Unlocking Space for Business has provided exploration workshops, networking events, learning and development sessions, and online resources to support companies in their understanding of what satellite data and services can mean for them. They run alongside Contracts for Innovation, formerly the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), which support the development of new ideas and technologies. 

Dr Craig Brown, Investment Director at the UK Space Agency, said: 

These new grants and contracts are just some of the ways the UK Space Agency is kickstarting growth and creating high quality jobs to position the UK as a leading space economy.  

Unlocking Space for Business is set up to identify and help tackle barriers facing organisations that have not traditionally used satellite data or services, or considered how space can benefit their bottom line. From AI powered satellite-derived climate models to maritime incident avoidance and easier football fan travel, these projects will help accelerate innovation and investment, and showcase the untapped potential of space data to support a range of UK industries.

The grants form part of a wider ‘Unlocking Space' programme from the UK Space Agency focused on growing the UK sector by championing the benefits of space to stakeholder groups outside it, including investors, businesses and public bodies. This includes the new GovBridge project to demystify the government procurement process and help space companies refine their business offering to better suit requirements across the public sector.  

It also includes Unlocking Space for Investment, through which the UK Space Agency has invested £8 million in the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) to create a space portfolio managed by Future Planet Capital. The fund aims to address the critical funding gap early-stage space companies face at pre-seed and seed stage, and is part of strategic efforts to leverage private investment to grow the space sector, which is a key priority for the UK Space Agency. 

Grant recipients

The funded projects are led by end-user businesses, in consortium with a space supplier and data integrators. 

The following organisations have been awarded grants under this Unlocking Space for Business grant call: 

Admiral Group Plc - Assessing subsidence-related insurance claims risk using satellite radar.

Use SAR satellite data to form an assessment of subsidence claims risk, to better understand the subsidence risk of given areas of the country and offer more competitive pricing to customers.  

Citigroup - Measuring Nature-Related Footprint: Corporate Impacts and Risks Quantified   

In partnership with Earth Blox, develop a market-leading geospatial and satellite data tool that enables a systematic and facility level screening of corporate nature-related impact and dependency across multiple sectors and geographies. 

Equitix Limited - Renewable energy resilience powered by satellite-derived climate models  

In partnership with climate modelling experts Sust Global, research and develop AI powered, satellite-derived forward-looking climate models to understand how changing wind resources may impact wind asset operational and financial performance.  

Foresight Group - Advancing Satellite-derived Insights for Nature and Climate Management and Disclosure   

Development of Frontierra's nature and climate reporting platform, assessing 600 assets to enhance their nature and climate related risk management and associated reporting to bolster decision making capabilities and improve ESG outcomes.  

Level E Research Limited - AI Risk Index (AIRi)  

Develop an AI Risk Index to assess the impact of potential environmental events on an investment, to enhance decision processes and increase overall operational efficiency.  

Octopus Investments Ltd & Treeconomy Ltd - Earth Observation for Natural Capital Investments  

Developing satellite-based tools to support data-driven investment decisions related to nature-based carbon projects, including afforestation. This aims to support more streamlined, confident and impactful allocation of private finance towards high-quality nature restoration efforts across carbon and natural capital markets.   

Safe Earth Solutions Ltd - Accelerating adoption of nature-related financial derivatives using Earth Observation data 

Financial services product development underpinned by their AI-powered Nature Valuation and Monitoring Platform to unlock new derivatives and investment into nature credits in pursuit of net zero and ESG goals.  

Shipping Strategy Ltd - Risk Scoring for Maritime Hull and Machinery Insurance   

Utilise Morphing's AI's software to identify short-term risk factors of maritime incidents, by combining satellite data from AAC Clyde Space with contextual commercial and ship technical data, and historical marine casualty data.  

Sports City Management Company - EventGo 5.0: AI-enabled Earth Observation for Travel Demand Management  

Use machine learning to analyse earth observation data and fan travel data, to enable Etihad Campus in Manchester to enhance visitor travel to reduce congestion and carbon emissions.    

WieldMore Investment Management Limited - CERES – Comprehensive Environmental Risk Evaluation System  

Integrate satellite data with financial models to assess the impact of climate and nature risks on manufacturing, energy and agriculture sectors.