The UK Space Agency is investing £6.9 million in satellite technology that aims to transform connectivity and secure Britain’s place as a European space leader.

The funding will support five groundbreaking projects through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ARTES (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems) programme.

The five UK-led projects span critical areas of innovation in satellite communications, from refuelling satellites to extend their lifespans, to developing 5G networks and optical links that will improve global connectivity.

Orbit Fab will deliver the Advancing Satcom Technology with Refuelling and Logistics (ASTRAL) project with a total UK funding of up to £2.9 million. The contract for the first stage of the mission, worth £1.3 million, has now been awarded by ESA. This mission will prove the capability to refuel electric propulsion satellites using UK-developed technology, ensuring satellites can remain in orbit for longer or can manoeuvre away from threats.

Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall will lead the AGILE: Antenna Ground Interface and LunaNet Equipment project, supported by £1.6 million in funding. Amidst the growing number of lunar missions, this project will produce an interface unit that can be installed in global antennas to communicate with spacecraft using the internationally recognised LunaNet specification. This will allow missions to seamlessly connect to ground infrastructure, improving mission success rates.

Vicinity Technologies will receive £1.19 million for its 5G NTN-based Satellite Access Networks project. The team will design and develop a versatile 5G Non-Terrestrial Network regenerative payload system and user terminals, including the entire software stack for both space and ground segments. This technology will support uninterrupted and scalable internet services globally, from hard-to-reach areas to smart cities.

Archangel Lightworks, working with the support of Eutelsat will advance optical communications through the Space Optical Link Integration Study (SOLIS) project, funded with £356,000. This study, delivered under ESA’s Sunrise programme, will investigate use cases for deploying Free Space Optical Communications technology within Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO global network.

Finally, Inmarsat Navigation Ventures Ltd (Viasat UK) will receive £881,000 for the International Virtual Satellite Operators Network (Phase 2) project. This initiative will develop a service that enables governments to plan, procure, manage and monitor satellite communications services from Viasat and other providers, ensuring secure and coherent management of critical communications.