Stellar success: Secured as part of the Space to Innovate Campaign – Charlie Drop, six organizations have received funding to advance technologies that improve the UK's capacity for safe operations in space.
£1.6 million overall funding allocated to 6 innovative organisations to develop space technologies.
The Space to Innovate Campaign aims to find and fund solutions to major space hurdles to promote space resilience and operational effectiveness.
The Space to Innovate Campaign – Charlie Drop is the third challenge in a joint collaboration between the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) are pleased to announce that six innovators have shared £1.6 million in funding to develop technologies for the space domain.
The funding was achieved as a result of Space to Innovate Campaign – Charlie Drop which invited innovators to submit their innovative technologies and solutions to help overcome the following challenge areas:
Challenge Area 1: Novel ways to achieve fine resolution collection for intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR)Challenge Area 2: Technologies and techniques to alert, protect and defend satellitesChallenge Area 3: Satellite and ground segment technologies for future Defence and Security operations
Major General Paul Tedman, Commander, UK Space Command, said: "As space becomes increasingly contested and congested, the ability to harness novel technologies to ensure freedom of action is essential. We will continue to work with our partners in industry, DASA, Dstl to seize and maintain the competitive edge in space."
Athos Ritsperis, Dstl Space Systems Programme Manager, said: "Accelerating the development of these technologies could contribute to the development of future operational concepts in support of the Defence Space Strategy. We look forward to working with all the contracted suppliers."