UK Space Agency & Space Florida - Space Innovation Partnership

To be eligible to apply for a grant, applicants must be a partnership consisting of at least one for-profit Florida company and one for-profit UK company. Companies are required to comply with the application requirements and programme conditions respective to each funding jurisdiction. Participation of research institutions/universities are welcome to participate in projects in accordance with each jurisdiction’s funding regulations.

The goal of the Space Florida – UK Space Agency Space Innovation Partnership is to promote joint R&D collaboration amongst companies in the State of Florida and the United Kingdom.  The partnership builds on the longstanding UK-US relationship, translating our shared commitment to innovation and economic growth into new commercial opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Proposals are welcome on any area of the space sector, but the following areas are of particular interest between the UK and Florida: 

• In-orbit servicing and manufacturing  

• Space transportation 

• Satellite systems 

• In-space research 

• Advanced exploration technologies 

The UK Space Agency and Space Florida call aims to stimulate collaborative innovation between UK and Florida space organisations, accelerating the development and commercialisation of cutting-edge space technologies. The call will support projects with strong market potential, strengthen bilateral relationships, and help UK organisations access investment, expertise and opportunities within respective space ecosystems in line with the UK’s recently published Space Strategy. 

Awardees will be funded directly by their home country's delivery partner, in line with its own rules and procedures: UK companies will be funded by the UK Space Agency, and Florida companies will be funded by Space Florida. 

Funding available totals £150,000 from the UK Space Agency and $200,000 from Space Florida. Up to two projects are expected to be funded, each with a total value of £150,000/$200,000, including contributions of up to £75,000 (UKSA) and $100,000 (SF).

Call closes  3pm 11 Jan 2027.  

Applications should be submitted to UK Space Agency by 3pm GMT   (and to Florida by 5:00 PM, eastern time) on that day.

One joint and identical submission should be submitted to both funders. 

Evaluation period  Jan-March 2027.

Grants begin 03-May  2027.

Please refer to the full guidance notes for this call, which are available on our . GOV web page. There you will find the full set of instructions for the application, along with all the documents you will need to complete and attach with your application submission.

The anticipated start date for successful projects is 3 May 2027. Projects should be prepared for a prompt start with the relevant technical and project management resources, allowing for any required recruitment to take place within the project schedule proposed. 

Proposals must outline a practical and credible delivery plan with clearly defined milestones that demonstrate progressive achievement of the project’s technical, commercial and programme management objectives, ensuring deliverables and payments are not disproportionately weighted in the final months of the project. Milestones should be scheduled at appropriate intervals throughout the project, aligned with the planned progression of the work, to support effective project delivery while addressing applicant cash flow needs; however, projects should not exceed six milestones per year.

Questions and applications should be directed to UKSA.ibf@dsit.gov.uk.

The UK Space Agency will not respond to questions asking for applications to be reviewed ahead of the submission deadline or clarification questions directed to any other email address.

The UK Space Agency will carry out due diligence on grant applications as required using internal and, where necessary, external subject matter experts. The scope and degree of due diligence will be determined by the nature, technical complexity, and delivery risk of your grant. All applications will be subject to basic checks such as credit reports and Companies House checks and may be subject to additional security, or delivery assurance checks where appropriate. You can find details of the checks we conduct on our grants page. All organisations in receipt of grant funding must abide by the UK Government Code of Conduct for Grant Recipients. Further guidance can be found on our .GOV page.