Funding Flash: May 2025

2 May

Each month, Space South Central aims to bring together a curated list of the latest and best funding opportunities for businesses working in the space sector across the South East.

The list is not exhaustive – for that, see the Satellite Applications Catapult’s Space Enterprise Network.

If you see an opportunity below that could be suitable for your business, reach out to the team at info@spacesouthcentral.com, who will offer advice, expertise, support and connections to help you create successful bids. Since 2016, we have helped regional organisations secure £37.5M.

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National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) Call 2

Deadline: Thursday, 8th May 2025

The UK Space Agency invites proposals for UK-based research and development projects that will deliver innovative space technologies, applications and services through the National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP). NSIP provides co-funded grant support to de-risk high-reward projects with a clear target market.

Read more here.

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SME Programme

Deadline: Wednesday, 14th May 2025

This competitive funding programme is designed to maximise benefits to SMEs and to support and encourage industrial investment into the aerospace sector and its supply chain, through the funding of innovative and high-impact projects.

Read more here.

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Proof of concept

Deadline: Thursday, 29th May 2025

Apply for proof of concept to support the commercialisation of research to enable spinouts or social ventures, licensing or other commercialisation pathways.

Applications from any disciplines are welcomed. No pre-existing UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding is required. The programme will not support discovery-driven research.

The intention to submit was a mandatory step and you are only eligible for the full stage if you have completed this. Subsequently, if eligible, you will be invited to apply by UKRI via email, but you must also be selected by your research organisation (RO) to submit a full application following the demand management measures.

Read more here.

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Green hydrogen as a sustainable energy source

Deadline: Friday, 6th June 2025

This Invitation to Tender invites proposals for feasibility studies for services that explore innovative uses of space technology to advance green hydrogen as a sustainable energy source. This study aims to leverage satellite communication (SatCom), satellite Earth observation (SatEO), and satellite navigation (SatNav) to support green hydrogen production, storage, and distribution.

Read more here.

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Space for Insurance Technology

Deadline: Monday, 9th June 2025

This ‘Space for Insurance Technology’ opportunity offers funding to European teams interested in developing services integrating technology solutions to the insurance sector. The European Space Agency (ESA) will provide funding for six-month feasibility studies known as ‘Kick-Starts’, which can lead to larger-scale projects and pilots. Kick-Starts are funded at 75% by ESA, up to a maximum of €75K per contract. Proposed services must use satellite data or space-based technologies. Please see the ‘authorisation of funding’ section below to verify your team’s eligibility.

Read more here.

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Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2025 – 2026 Round 2

Deadline: Wednesday, 11th June 2025

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme allows a UK registered business or not for profit organisation to partner with a UK higher/further education institution, research and technology organisation (RTO) or Catapult, for a 12-36 month project bringing academic expertise into business.

The KTP partnership brings new skills and the latest academic thinking into the business partner (which can be a business or not-for-profit organisation) to deliver a specific, strategic innovation project. The knowledge base partner (HE or FE education institution, RTO or Catapult) recruits the ‘associate’ to work on the project. The associate has the opportunity to lead a strategic development within the business, developing new skills and gaining valuable experience.

Read more here.

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Future Leaders Fellowships: round 10

Deadline: Wednesday, 18th June 2025

Apply for funding to support ambitious research and innovation across UK Research and (UKRI)’s remit.

You must be an early career researcher or innovator who is either:

looking to establish or transition to independence
developing their own original and ambitious plans within a commercial setting
you must be based at, and have the support of, an eligible academic or non-academic institution eligible for UKRI funding.

There is no minimum or maximum project cost.

Your project can last for up to four years, with the option to apply to renew for a further three years.

Read more here.

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Farming Futures R&D Fund: low emissions farming

Deadline: Wednesday, 25th June 2025

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has allocated up to £12.5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

This funding is part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme which is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Defra and UKRI will work in collaboration to deliver a portfolio of projects that meet the objectives of the Farming Innovation Programme.

The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative projects that will develop new solutions to support UK farming working towards achieving low emissions. These must address major on-farm or immediate post farmgate challenges or opportunities.

Read more here.

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Earth and space exploration awards

Deadline: Monday, 30th June 2025

The Earth and Space Foundation invites applications for its Earth and space awards. These support expeditions that advance the links between environmentalism and space exploration. Typical areas of interest include:

Use of space data and materials to improve Earth;
Educational advancement at the interface of environmentalism and space exploration;
Astrobiology-related fieldwork or ‘analog' field work;
Field research applying Earth's environmental and biological resources toward the human exploration and settlement of space;
Astronomy at the interface between Earth and space exploration / astroarchaeology.

Read more here.

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European Space Agency: Integrated Digital Solutions For The Energy Sector

Deadline: Monday, 30th June 2025

This Call for Proposals invites proposals for feasibility studies and demonstration projects for services that leverage space-based technologies to advance resilience and sustainability in the energy sector. With a focus on digital transformation, the call encourages innovative solutions that integrate digital tools such as IoT, AI, blockchain, AR/VR, and digital twins. These solutions aim to optimise electricity grid management, enable predictive maintenance, support energy storage, improve construction logistics, and streamline renewable energy management.

Read more here.

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Exploration Science working group support

Deadline: Open Until Further Notice

The purpose of this AO is to support academics who have been selected for groups and/or science teams, campaign science groups and other definition work relating to Exploration missions.

Read more here.

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Made Smarter

Deadline: Open Until Further Notice

The "Made Smarter" program offers funding and support to UK manufacturers, particularly SMEs, to help them adopt digital technologies and improve their operations. This includes match-funded grants of up to 50% (with a maximum of £20,000) for equipment and/or advice to implement projects, as well as access to digital technology advice and workforce development

Read more here.

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ESA ITT

Deadline: Various

The latest list of open and intended ESA and Non-ESA ITTs is now available and published on ESA STAR. This includes all contracts currently open for bids, as well as those in the intended phase prior to publication. All opportunities listed are accessible to UK companies, though some caveats may apply.

Read more here.

Ebony Cox-Vint

Funding Flash: May 2025

University of Portsmouth delivers vital skills training to address UK space industry shortage