Engineering news
UK space businesses will benefit from £70 million funding from the UK Space Agency to develop satellite projects to tackle problems such as flooding, drought and deforestation in developing countries.
The 21 chosen projects will help provide solutions for local issues in countries across Africa, Asia and Central and South America. They include providing communications in remote areas for education and health provision, improving maritime safety for small fishing vessels in South Africa and Madagascar and reducing illegal logging in Guatemala.
The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP), is a five-year, £152 million programme designed to partner UK space expertise with governments and organisations in emerging and developing economies around the world to deliver “sustainable economic or societal benefit”.
Meanwhile, business secretary Greg Clark has confirmed that Tim Peake will make a second mission to the International Space Station to continue work on scientific research and broadening our understanding of the space environment.
Greg Clark, secretary of state for the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “Tim Peake’s Principia mission inspired a generation, and showed just how far science can take you.
“Our space sector underpins industries worth more than £250 billion to the economy, employing people in every corner of the UK. It has enormous potential to grow further – showing why we have placed such an emphasis on science, innovation and skills in our plans for an industrial strategy.
“Building on excellent foundations, our ambition is to capture 10% of the space market by 2030 and ensure the UK space industry is a global leader in the decades ahead.”
Tim Peake will also open the new Airbus Foundation Discovery Space Stem Centre in Stevenage today. The centre features educational exhibits to promote science, technology, engineering and maths to inspire the next generation of engineers, technicians and scientists, based around the Airbus testing facility for its Mars rover programme. The site is expected to receive around 5,000 school visitors per year.