About ESA Phi-Lab UK

ESA Phi-Lab UK provides the funding and support to enable the commercialisation of innovative technologies that promote space sustainability and sustainability on earth.

We also provide access to support from world-leading technical and scientific expertise to business coaching and commercialisation.

Apply now

Image from space showing the moon and a part of the surface of the earth

Our partners

Who can apply

The application is open to private organisations, research organisations and academia.

Your application shall focus on innovative technologies and demonstrate high commercial potential across the space sustainability and environmental sustainability subsectors. Additionally, your application must address one or more of the following ESA Phi-Lab UK pillars:

Pillar 1: Fight climate change with space technology
Pillar 2: Lead the global effort to make space more sustainable
Pillar 3: Advance Space Domain Awareness (SDA)

Support package

Funding – we offer between €200,000 and €225,000 per research project.
Support – We help you develop your idea by providing access to key technical expertise, business coaching and intellectual property support.
Facilities – We provide access to world-class facilities such as specialist laboratories, cleanrooms and environmental testing facilities.
Workspace and Networking – We offer the option for you to be based at Harwell or Daresbury and benefit from the buoyant local clusters and network.

Our locations

Daresbury Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus

Latest News

Frontier Space Achieves Major Orbital Milestone with First In-Orbit Biotech Mission

Frontier Space, an incubatee of the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK) at Space Park Leicester, has successfully completed its first orbital mission, marking a significant step forward in space-based biomanufacturing and scientific research.

Omanos Analytics: Unveiling Community Impacts of Conflict and Climate

Omanos Analytics combines satellite data with community insights to monitor the social and environmental impacts of infrastructure projects. With support from ESA BIC UK, they developed their data visualisation tool, Askr, and refined their product strategy.

Treeconomy: UK Start-Up Bringing Trust and Traceability to Ecosystem Restoration

Treeconomy is using satellite and drone data to improve transparency in ecosystem restoration. With support from ESA BIC UK, they’ve scaled their tech, grown their team, and secured investment to advance nature-based climate solutions.

Lúnasa: Accelerating the Development of In-Orbit Infrastructure

Lúnasa is developing next-gen technologies and services for enabling the In-Orbit Services, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) industry. The company is focused on building and commercialising its autonomous Rendezvous Proximity Operations (RPO) technology for satellite servicing missions and operates testbeds in orbit to provide affordable tech rideshare for ISAM companies for in-orbit validation purposes.

Celebrating 20 years of the ESA Business Incubation Centre

Senior Startup Award presented to ESA BIC UK Alumni, Open Cosmos at the European Space Agency’s 20 year celebration event. The event in Munich, Germany, brought together entrepreneurs, space companies, investors and policymakers.

Two ESA BIC UK alumni celebrate launch success

Two innovative ESA BIC UK alumni companies, Space DOTS and SmartIR, have achieved remarkable milestones with their successful launches.

ESA BIC alumni expands global IoT network

Lacuna Space, alumni of ESA BIC UK, has successfully launched a new set of satellites as part of its Call of the Wild mission, a major milestone in scaling its direct-to-device (D2D) Internet of Things (IoT) network.

Our team

Antonio Costa

Programme Manager, ESA Phi-Lab UK

FAQs

Enquiries

If you’re an entrepreneur working in the deep tech space looking for support to help you scale, get in touch with the team at esaphilab@stfc.ac.uk