The UK Space Agency has announced the recipients to receive funding from the first phase of the £20 million International Bilateral Fund, helping UK organisations collaborate with global partners to further space research and develop innovative space-oriented technologies.

The International Bilateral Fund is the first dedicated fund from the UK Space Agency — the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) sponsored executive body — to solidify global ties and help meet the UK’s space goals.

In this first phase of the fund, the recipients will each receive up to £75,000 of the initial £2.1 million pot. The funding is set to enable work on projects such as the development of an autonomous controlled environment for plant growth to support space missions, and using superconductors for space traffic control.

The government has said that the partnerships will “ensure the UK, and its world-leading scientists, remain a driving force behind generating a diverse and collaborative global space sector that benefits the world for generations to come,” as well as strengthening UK space sector capabilities.

In terms of winners closer to home, two Scottish universities have been named by the UK Space Agency as recipients of the funding.

The University of Glasgow is partnering with the Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth Consortium to develop a novel approach to lunar regolith sampling. Regolith is the layer of loose, unconsolidated rock and dust that sits upon the bedrock of a planet — in this case, the moon.

Meanwhile, the University of Strathclyde is partnering with MIT, the University of Arizona, the University of Waterloo, and Columbiad Launch Services Inc to work on a project relating to artificial intelligence (AI) for space safety and sustainability.

Speaking on the fund and this first wave of recipients, Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, commented: “Working with other space agencies and organisations across the globe through our International Bilateral Fund allows us to draw on skills that enhance our homegrown expertise and capabilities, drive up investment in the UK, and support world-class science and discovery.

“Projects such as these highlight the many ways in which we can collaborate with the global space community to help humanity push the boundaries of space innovation and unlock commercial opportunities that will benefit our economy now and in the future.”

The news comes just two months after the UK Space Agency announced £6.6 million in funding for a variety of international space-focused partnerships through its Science and Exploration Bilateral Programme, helping to support space research and problem-solving.

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While the UK Space Agency provides funding across various and intersecting aspects of the space industry, Greg Clark, chair of Parliament’s Science and Technology Select Committee, reportedly told MPs earlier this year that the UK is seen as “toxic” when it comes to privately funded satellite launches, following January’s failed Virgin Orbit satellite mission in Cornwall.

In Scotland, and in a bid to advance the UK’s satellite launch sector, two spaceports — Orbex’s Sutherland Spaceport and the SaxaVord Spaceport — are currently being built and are set to support vertical satellite rocket launches.

DIGIT recently reported on the news that Orbex has expanded its facilities ahead of the launch of its Prime rocket — a two-stage rocket designed to transport and release small satellites weighing up to 180kg.