UK Space Agency and ESA Grants: How UK Firms Apply

Space funding in the UK can look confusing because two agencies are involved. The UK Space Agency runs its own grant calls, and it also manages the UK's participation in European Space Agency (ESA) programmes, which ESA runs and contracts directly. People search for "ESA grants" and "UK Space Agency grants" as if they were the same thing. They are not, and the route you take changes who you apply to, how much you can get and what paperwork you need. This guide explains both, using the agencies' own published guidance, checked on the date shown on this page.

The two routes in short

UK Space Agency grant calls

The UK Space Agency publishes its calls on GOV.UK. Each one has its own rules, so read the call document in full. Two were open when we checked.

Unlocking Space for Business: Environmental Intelligence and Emissions

Unlocking Space for Business is a challenge-led competition to help organisations use space-enabled data and services for environmental monitoring, emissions measurement, reporting and verification. The main rules:

• It is led by end users. The lead must be a UK-registered end-user business, including SMEs, leading a consortium with at least one UK space supplier, plus any integrators or delivery partners needed.
• It is aimed particularly at financial services, insurance, asset management, energy, utilities, infrastructure, agriculture, land management and environmental services, but other sectors with a clear use case are welcome.
• Up to £2 million is available in total, and grants are expected to be £150,000 to £400,000 per project. Total project costs can be higher to allow for match funding.
• Projects last up to 9 months, should be ready to start by mid-January 2027 and aim to finish by 30 September 2027. The first milestone, worth at least 25% of the grant, is due by 31 March 2027.
• Applications go through Flexigrant and close at 4pm GMT on Friday 11 December 2026. Clarification questions are answered until 27 November 2026.

Funding rates follow subsidy control rules and depend on the size of the business and the type of work. The call document sets them out, from 70% of eligible costs for small enterprises doing industrial research down to 25% for large enterprises doing experimental development, with a possible uplift for collaborative projects.

UK Space Agency and Space Florida: Space Innovation Partnership

The Space Innovation Partnership funds joint research and development between at least one for-profit UK company and one for-profit Florida company. Each side is funded by its own agency: UK companies by the UK Space Agency, Florida companies by Space Florida. Up to two projects are expected, each worth £150,000 or $200,000 in total, with contributions of up to £75,000 from the UK Space Agency and up to $100,000 from Space Florida. Areas of particular interest include in-orbit servicing and manufacturing, space transportation, satellite systems, in-space research and advanced exploration technologies. It closes at 3pm on 11 January 2027.

The UK Space Agency also runs calls such as the International Bilateral Fund, whose Call 3 offered up to £1.5 million a project and had an application deadline of 4 November 2026.

ESA Business Applications (BASS)

ESA's Business Applications and Space Solutions programme supports commercially viable services that use space assets, such as satellite Earth observation, satellite navigation or satellite communications. ESA says businesses from any sector can apply. In the UK it sits within the UK Space Agency's ACCESS programme.

Ways in

• The Open Call for proof-of-concept studies and pilot projects. Always open. Proof-of-concept studies validate the market by designing the service, engaging users and building a minimum viable product, with activity costs of up to €600,000. Pilot projects test the service with real customers.
• Themed calls for proposals. Non-competitive calls on a set topic, assessed on a rolling basis. When we checked, these included wildfire preparedness (closing 1 December 2026), space-enabled solutions for resilient grids (closing 29 January 2027) and environmental crimes (closing 25 June 2027). For these, the closing date is for the first stage, the Activity Pitch Questionnaire.
• Kick-starts. Six-month feasibility studies, funded by ESA at 75% up to €75,000. However, the UK Space Agency says it is not currently supporting applications to Kick-start calls, so UK companies should not plan on this route for now.
• Growth Projects. For services already successful in one market that want to expand into another. The UK Space Agency's guidance says it is not currently supporting Growth Project proposals and would reconsider in autumn 2026, so check with its team before you apply.

How much of the cost is covered

ESA's own table for the Open Call sets a baseline of up to 75% of a company's costs for proof-of-concept studies and up to 50% for pilot projects, with up to 80% for small and medium-sized businesses, depending on what each national delegation authorises. For UK companies, the UK Space Agency says its default co-funding rate is 50% across all project types unless a call says otherwise. Your share cannot come from other public sources and should mainly be cash, such as company funds, loans or private investment, with in-kind support making up the smaller part. ESA and UK Space Agency funding is zero-equity.

The Authorisation of Funding letter

This is the step people miss. ESA will only assess a UK company's completed proposal if it includes an Authorisation of Funding letter from the UK Space Agency for the amount requested. If it is missing, ESA rejects the proposal without assessment.

The UK Space Agency process for calls for proposals and the Open Call runs like this:

1. Submit your Activity Pitch Questionnaire to ESA and, at the same time, to the UK Space Agency's Space Data and Applications team.
2. The UK Space Agency and ESA review it. The UK Space Agency aims to finish within 10 to 15 working days.
3. If approved, write an Outline Proposal and send it to both.
4. If the UK Space Agency approves the Outline Proposal, present it to its BASS Assessment Panel of independent experts and agency staff. Panels are held every two months.
5. Write the Full Proposal.
6. The UK Space Agency reviews it and, once satisfied, issues the Authorisation of Funding. Letters are valid for six months.
7. Submit the completed proposal, with the letter, to ESA.

The UK Space Agency recommends working with the free ESA Business Applications Ambassadors before you submit, and checking with its team that it is supporting a call before you start writing.

Is space funding right for you?

These schemes are for organisations building or using space-enabled products and services, usually companies. If you are a business looking at innovation funding more broadly, our Innovate UK guide explains the main UK competitions, and many space calls are promoted through Innovate UK Business Connect. Because most space funding needs a cash contribution from you, read our guide on how to find match funding before you commit.

We list open space calls as they are published on the European Space Agency funder page, in professional, scientific and technical funding and among our small business grants.