British entrepreneurs invited on space mission

The mission, which will see about 15 satellite companies travel to Boston, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley in May this year, is aimed at helping the firms secure investment and develop strategic partnerships in America.

Tim Just, Head of Space at Innovate UK said:

“There’s more to space than rockets, astronauts and exploration. The use of space technology plays a huge part in our everyday life- from showing us the way to our destination to forecasting the weather, we believe there is a new generation of technologies and services on the horizon and some of these will come from a new type of much smaller satellites, something the UK is historically good at."

“Space technology and satellite applications are thriving commercial sectors in the UK and at Innovate UK, we want to help those businesses expand and grow.We know that sometimes businesses find it hard to find the time, money and contacts to start growing in a new market. That is why we’re taking 15 companies interested in developing cubesats and their applications over to the USA and the heart of this “nanosat-revolution" to help them take their business to the next level.”

The UK has a particular strength in the development ofnano-satellites, which is a miniaturised satellite of limited capability,which can be produced and launched at the fraction of the cost of a traditional satellite. Originally developed for space research, “nanosats” are increasingly being considered for mainstream commercial applications.

Businesses are able to apply to take part in the mission from today by going to http://spacemissionuk.org