UK funding boosts breakthrough space tech
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Britain’s space ambitions received a major boost yesterday when Space Minister Liz Lloyd announced more than £19 million for cutting-edge technologies that could transform manufacturing in orbit and help keep space safe.
Speaking at London Tech Week, Minister Lloyd announced a package of more than £19 million to back British space innovation. The package will support companies developing technologies that could change how materials are made in space, make it easier to bring them back to Earth, and help keep the space environment safe and sustainable.
Welsh company Space Forge won £10 million backing for a reusable heat shield. The Cardiff-based company is pioneering in-space manufacturing, developing semiconductors in microgravity where materials can be made with fewer defects and greater uniformity, potentially improving performance in technologies such as telecoms, computing, defence and clean energy.
The company will receive £10 million, funded through an increase to the UK Space Agency’s investment in the European Space Agency’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), which will support a mission to design, build, launch and return ‘Pridwen’, a new deployable heat shield system designed to protect spacecraft returning to Earth.
Traditional heat shields are usually fixed, rigid structures or tiles attached to a spacecraft, which can add weight, take up space and be difficult to reuse. Pridwen is designed to deploy during re-entry, creating a larger protective surface that helps shield the spacecraft from extreme heat and pressure while making the system lighter, easier to recover and more practical to use again.
The mission will help bring Pridwen to full commercial readiness, enabling frequent and reliable return of payloads from space which is critical to the growth of the in-space manufacturing industry.
Space Minister Liz Lloyd said: "Today’s government-funded investment in Space Forge shows our commitment to keeping Britain at the forefront of the fast-growing space sector. Space Forge is developing technology that could revolutionise in-space manufacturing.
"Our wider investment is also helping more British space businesses grow, bring in private backing and create high-skilled jobs across the country. That is how we build a stronger space sector and keep the UK one of the best places in the world to start and scale a space business."
Joshua Western, CEO & Co-founder, Space Forge, said: "We’re thrilled to be awarded the GSTP funding to help bring Pridwen to commercial readiness. This proprietary technology is key to enabling the safe return of our materials to Earth, which in turn unlocks the future of in-space manufacturing.
"With our recent ForgeStar-1 mission we proved we can create the right manufacturing environment for next-generation semiconductor materials in space, with this newly funded mission we can prove our ability to deliver products to market."
Funding for early-stage UK space companies
Minister Lloyd also announced a further £9.25 million has been invested into the Space Portfolio of the UK Innovation and Science Seed (UKI2S) Fund, managed by Future Planet Capital, to help UK space businesses scale and grow, bringing the total Space Portfolio to £22 million.
This additional investment into UKI2S will further help early-stage, high-potential UK space businesses get off the ground and attract more private investment, supporting jobs and growth across the country.
The UKI2S Space Portfolio has already demonstrated success, having helped bring in more than £17 million from private investors, with every £1 of public money attracting over £5.90 in additional backing.
Three new deals have been agreed this year, helping UK space businesses bring in more than £10 million in extra private backing for work that will make space safer and improve technologies used in navigation and security:
- Silicon Microgravity makes highly accurate sensors used in navigation, aerospace and defence. A £500,000 UKI2S Space investment helped the company secure a further £4.8 million from private investors.
- Optera makes sensors that help track objects in space. Originally based in Australia, the company has now set up in the UK, with a £300,000 investment through the Space Portfolio helping it secure a further £2.4 million in additional investment.
- Spaceflux tracks satellites and debris in orbit to help keep space safe. A follow-on £100,000 UKI2S Space investment, following an earlier £400,000 investment through the Space Portfolio in 2025, has helped the company attract £7.5 million in private investment.
These deals build on the Fund’s broader track record, which includes a previous £500,000 investment in Messium, a company that uses satellite data and AI to help farmers use fertiliser more efficiently, reducing costs and environmental impact. That investment helped enable a total of £2.7 million in private investment.
