The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. It is responsible for ensuring that the UK retains and grows a strategic capability in space-based systems, technologies, science and applications. As an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Agency leads on the UK’s civil space programme in order to win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefit to all citizens. An important part of this is to inspire the next generation of UK scientists and engineers. The Agency work to raise the profile of UK space activities and promotes co-operation at home and abroad.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA is an international organisation with 22 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

What does ESA do?

ESA’s job is to draw up the European space programme and carry it through. ESA's programmes are designed to find out more about Earth, its immediate space environment, our Solar System and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services, and to promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organisations outside Europe.

Who belongs to ESA?

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Slovenia is an Associate Member. Canada takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) ensures that innovative science and technology contribute to the defence and security of the UK.  Dstl supplies specialist services to Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider government.  It is the principal government organisation dedicated to science and technology in the defence and security field.  Dstl works with a wide range of partners and suppliers in industry, academia and overseas to deliver a significant amount of the MOD’s S&T Programme.

The Dstl Space Programme will develop solutions to further mature space into a mainstream defence environment by 2025.  It will support the MOD in realising a flexible, reconfigurable and affordable military capability in support of the 2020 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).  Supporting the National Space Security Policy (NSSP) to “enhance the UK’s national security interests through space” the programme will augment existing capabilities with affordable, rapidly deployable, new and novel capabilities to provide new and increasingly responsive capabilities to deliver Space Situational Awareness, C4ISR, and PNT.  It will develop and in-depth understanding of the impacts of space environment effects on military systems, develop mitigation approaches, and develop optimisation methods to improve the utility of existing, planned and future systems.

Thales Alenia Space UK (TAS-UK) established in 2014 employs over 160 highly skilled mechanical, electrical and space systems engineers across its three sites in the UK in Bristol, Harwell and Belfast. TAS-UK is a leader in propulsion systems, mission subsystems and next generation payloads for telecoms, military satellites and UK constellations and is at the forefront of innovation with projects such as Omnisat and Skimsat. TAS-UK contributes to major ESA science programmes such as ExoMars, providing the Rover’s Inertial Measurement Unit, the Broadband Radiometer for EarthCare and the Remote Interface Unit for BepiColumbo. 

Thales Alenia Space (TAS), is a joint subsidiary of Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), and a partner in the Space Alliance alongside Telespazio. The company has 7,500 employees across 9 countries, posting total revenues over €2.1 billion in 2015.  TAS is the world leader in satellite constellations, and a European leader in milsatcom,  meteorological and navigation satellites.’

Over 30 years of space innovation, where an innovative approach to the design, build, launch and operation of satellites, has propelled SSTL to the forefront of the small satellite industry. SSTL’s drive to change the economics of space means that we continue to push the boundaries of space, exploiting advances in technologies and continuing to challenge conventions, bringing affordable space exploration to our customers. SSTL delivers complete mission solutions for remote sensing, science, navigation and telecommunications as well as supplying avionics suites, subsystems and ground infrastructure. SSTL’s vertically integrated projects have given us a reputation for delivering to short schedules and within tight budgets. To date we have delivered 49 satellites to international customers.  

Based in Guildford, UK, SSTL employs 500 staff and is an independent company within the Airbus Group

https://www.sstl.co.uk/ 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 98,000 people worldwide. Through its Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin, is developing a variety of spacecraft that will explore planets and asteroids in our solar system.  These capabilities will help scientists and researchers gain new insights about the solar system, universe, Earth and life origins.

As well as support for both UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency, Lockheed Martin has played a role in every NASA mission to Mars, building 10 spacecraft and eight aeroshells supporting Mars missions. Lockheed Martin is also the prime contractor building the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, NASA’s first spacecraft designed for long-duration, human-rated deep space exploration. Orion will transport humans to interplanetary destinations beyond low Earth orbit, such as asteroids, the moon and eventually Mars, and return them safely back to Earth.

Airbus Defence and Space is one of the three Divisions of the Airbus Group and Europe’s Number 1 defence and space company. It is the world’s second largest space company and one of the top 10 defence companies globally, with revenues of around €13 billion per year and approx. 38,600 employees. 

Airbus Defence and Space develops and engineers cutting-edge and peerlessly reliable products in the field of defence and space. Its defence and space technologies enable governments and institutions to protect natural resources, societies and individual freedom. The aircraft, satellites and services help to monitor climate and crops, and to secure borders. Airbus Defence and Space solutions guarantee sovereignty in foreign affairs and defence matters. And its portfolio also ensures communication, mobility, the expansion of knowledge and the safeguarding of the environment. 

www.airbusdefenceandspace.com

We are a UK-based company formed in 1989 to design and develop the technologies needed for an innovative Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine. The result of two decades of research is SABRE.

We have achieved a breakthrough in aerospace engine technology by developing ultra-lightweight heat exchangers which are 100 times lighter than current hardware, capable of cooling airstreams from over 1,000°C to -150°C in less than 1/100th of a second. SABRE and its breakthrough technology will enable aircraft to fly over five times the speed of sound and allow launch vehicles to be built that will radically improve the affordability and responsiveness of access to space.

Right now, the company is backed by the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency. It has had a recent £20.6m minority investment by BAE Systems and a £60m commitment from the UK government. We’ve also begun partnering with aerospace suppliers to deliver a ground-based SABRE demonstrator engine. There’s never been a better time to join us on the journey. 

The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is one of the world’s leading aerospace trade events and is integral to many aerospace companies’ sales and marketing strategy. The 2016 event saw 1500 exhibitors attend from 52 countries, over 100 aircraft taking part in both static and flying displays and orders and commitments valued US$125billion. 

For visitors and exhibitors alike, the Farnborough International Airshow offers a targeted platform to do business. Over the past few shows, the Space sector has become a key feature providing a wider platform to promote and raise awareness of Space technology and innovation to the wider aerospace community. The next show will take place from 16th-22nd July 2018.

As a global broadband services and technology company, ViaSat ensures consumers, businesses, governments and military personnel have communications access – anywhere – whether on the ground or in-flight. As the leading innovator in designing high-capacity satellites, secure ground infrastructure, and terminal technologies, coupled with our best available network, military forces around the world count on ViaSat to deliver reliable, affordable communications beyond the reach of traditional wired connections. Blending market-leading commercial and defence technologies and applying them in innovative ways across the global defence market, ViaSat continues to pushes the boundaries of being connected – and secure – even under the most challenging circumstances.

EARTH-i is a UK-based provider of high-quality Earth Observation imagery and analytical services to a range of customers in sectors such as Natural Resources & Energy, Precision Agriculture, Financial Services, Urban Planning, Emergency Response, and Security, Defence, and Intelligence.

EARTH-i geospatial solutions utilise very high resolution optical satellite imagery from the DMC3/TripleSat Constellation and other remote sensing products. The constellation consists of three identical British-built optical satellites, with multispectral capabilities and 80cm resolution, offering customers very high resolution imaging opportunities of any point on the Earth’s surface at least once every 24 hours from the constellation’s 45 orbits every day.

Inmarsat plc is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organizations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. Inmarsat operates in more than 60 locations around the world, with a presence in the major ports and centres of commerce on every continent. Inmarsat is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ISAT.L).

Telespazio Vega UK is a consulting, technology and engineering services business company headquartered in Luton, UK. Since 40 years it is a leader in satellite systems and operations, offering ground segment systems for satellite missions and providing expert consulting and engineering support. More recently we have developed deep expertise and heritage in climate services and downstream applications using all types of space assets (satellite communication, navigation and earth observation). Telespazio Vega UK is owned by Telespazio (a Leonardo and Thales joint venture) one of the world’s leading operators in satellite services. Telespazio activities range from the design and development of space systems to the management of launch services, in-orbit satellite control, and brokering of microgravity experiments. Telespazio are deeply involved in major space programmes such as Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, and operate the high resolution COSMO-SkyMed radar constellation (with a ground station present in the UK).

Sapienza Consulting is a leading provider of Space and Defence Mission and Project Support through people, software and services.

Our teams of software architects and developers, space engineers and business consultants deliver solutions from our and our customers offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium and France.

Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency.  We work with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy.  We fund, support and connect innovative businesses throughout the UK, helping to drive sustainable economic development.  

Since 2007 we have committed over £1.8 billion to innovation, matched by a similar amount in partner and business funding. We have helped more than 7,600 organisations with projects estimated to add more than £11.5 billion to the UK economy and create 55,000 extra new jobs.

The Satellite Applications Catapult is an independent innovation and technology company, created to foster growth across the economy through the exploitation of space. It helps organisations make use of and benefit from satellite technologies, and brings together multi-disciplinary teams to generate ideas and solutions in an open innovation environment.

The Catapult offers world-class facilities and expertise that enable the best businesses, researchers and end-users to work together to develop new satellite-based products, services and applications, translating ideas from concept to market. They are one of a network of Catapults established by Innovate UK to accelerate the take-up of emerging technologies and drive economic growth.

The Open University is an internationally recognised research leader in planetary and space sciences and the development of space instrumentation. Covering a wide range of disciplines from astrobiology to electrical engineering, geochemistry to quantum physics; and technologies from electronic imaging to remote sensing, mass spectroscopy to novel sensors; Open University researchers are often found in key roles in international space science missions such as Rosetta, ExoMars, Euclid, JUICE and Athena; with many of the activities performed in collaboration with Space Agencies, Universities and companies around the world. This research also informs our world-leading teaching in the Physical Sciences.

CGI is the fifth largest independent IT and business process services firm in the world.  We have a large Space business, with over 40 years’ experience of delivering complex, secure, mission-critical space systems.   Our Space team is based in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Finland, Estonia, Czech Republic and Italy.   We work on the major European navigation, communication and earth observation programmes including Galileo, EGNOS, Iris Precursor and Copernicus.  We are specialists in space security and ground control systems.  We are a Copernicus masters challenge partner and help organisations use satellite data to solve their business challenges.

CRITICAL Software provides systems, software and data engineering services for safety, mission and business-critical applications, helping to ensure its clients meet the most demanding quality standards for safety, performance and reliability. 

CRITICAL Software’s core competencies cover a wide range of areas, including system planning and analysis, system design, verification, development, integration and maintenance. 

CRITICAL Software was founded in 1998, with NASA its first ever client. The company has participated in almost 20 separate space ventures, including multiple ESA missions.