UK Space Agency invests £3.8 million in Scottish space sector

The UK Space Agency has announced a funding boost of £3.8m to “accelerate breakthrough technologies and boost commercialisation” of the Scottish space sector.

The announcement comes on the heels of a UK Government pledge to set out a strategic approach to supporting Scotland’s space sector in 2026.

Three Scottish universities will benefit from the funding provided by the National Space Innovation Programme to develop secure communications, environmental monitoring and navigation technology.

The Scottish Government’s business minister Richard Lochhead said: “Scotland’s space sector and wider supply chain is already delivering on its significant economic potential but also helping solve some of the world’s most important challenges from climate change to telecommunications.”  

In Scotland, the space industry is predicted to be worth over £4bn by 2030 and employ over 20,000 people. Figures show that one fifth of all UK space sector jobs are in Scotland and that Glasgow produces more small satellites than anywhere else in Europe.

The University of Edinburgh will receive part of the funding to develop a compact instrument for use on small satellites to measure pollution such as carbon dioxide from space.  

The University of Strathclyde will work on two projects, a new satellite navigation system that avoids relying on GPS to navigate and a joint project with the University of Bristol to develop a UV-based device that enables secure data transmission between satellites.

Heriot-Watt University is also collaborating with Toshiba Europe and Cambridge University to build a secure quantum communication transmitter for small satellites to ensure that sensitive data is not vulnerable to attack. In October the UK’s head of Space Command warned that Russia was targeting UK military satellites on a weekly basis with information-gathering technology.  

Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill said: “This UK Government funding is another great example of why it's such an exciting time for the Scottish space sector - a vitally important industry employing thousands of people across Scotland.”

The UK Space Agency also announced an additional £1.1m in funding for space clusters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The funding will support each of the UK’s devolved administrations to make the decisions needed to grow their own space sectors.

Dr Natasha Nicholson, chief executive of Space Scotland said: “We are especially pleased to see dedicated support for Scotland’s space cluster. This funding will help us deepen partnerships across industry, academia and government, accelerate commercial opportunities, and ensure that Scotland continues to deliver meaningful impact for the UK’s economy, sustainability goals and national resilience.”