The announcement was made at the two-day Space-Comms Expo event in London, by the UK’s space minister Liz Lloyd. Note that the total is in addition to existing commitments to national and supra-national agencies: the UK Space Agency and ESA.
“The government recognises that the whole of the space sector – from curiosity-driven science to commercial satellite services – makes an important contribution to the UK,” said Lloyd. “But to deliver growth and security for the British people, we need to take a much bolder approach to how we prioritise public funding and support.
“Our vision is clear – to make the UK a competitive, agile space power. We’re allocating £500m today, on top of ESA funding, to drive forward our priorities and will continue to work closely with industry and investors to maximise private capital flows and unlock the full potential of commercial space.”
National space programmes
The programmes that will be funded range from areas such as in-orbit servicing and manufacturing (ISAM) to smart satellites.
The breakdown is as follows:
- £105m to develop civil capabilities for ISAM – an emerging market where the UK has a strong competitive edge and opportunities to deliver significant commercial returns and strengthen national resilience
- £85m to develop the National Space Operations Centre, including £40m to build a new ground‑based sensing network, supporting the 24/7 requirement to protect satellites and manage an increasingly crowded space environment
- £80m to deliver the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, including for a new £30m funding call opened today to support UK businesses developing smarter satellites, advanced hardware and AI‑enabled data delivery
- £65m for the National Space Innovation Programme to accelerate breakthrough technologies and boost commercialisation
- £40m for the Unlocking Space Programme to drive market demand for space technology, to develop national security capabilities and attract private investment to support the scale-up of UK firms
- £37m to develop space clusters, building on local strengths across the whole of the UK
- £20m to accelerate spaceport infrastructure development in Scotland.
There will also be a range of tools and support schemes for “high-potential companies”. This will be to improve access to finance, develop the skills and talent pipeline, said the government, and to ensure space regulation and standards keep up to date.
Plan for Space
The government also highlighted that the UK committed £162m to ESA launch programmes in November 2025. This is capitalising on the geographic advantage of UK spaceports, it said.
The UK Space Agency’s budget grew by 8% last year, with £2.8bn allocated until 2030. The agency itself will officially merge into DSIT (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) in April.
Lloyd said the government would publish its full Plan for Space later this year.
Image: UK Gov – space minister Liz Lloyd speaking at Space-Comm Expo Europe
See also: Space-Comms Expo: Open Cosmos layers ConnectedCosmos
