11 British organisations have won a share of just under £7 million to help action the latest advances in space innovation.

The majority of the projects are focussing on climate change or environmental management, while others are designed to secure telecommunication systems and protect digital infrastructure against attacks.

Projects include Global Satellite Vu, which will build a compact high-resolution infrared camera for satellites to measure thermal emissions from homes, schools, and places of work, helping to improve energy efficiency.

The Open University in Milton Keynes will develop the mission concept for “TreeView”, a forestry and management tool that will support a nature-based solution to tackling climate change by monitoring the health of trees from space.

“Satellites in space are helping us solve some of the most significant challenges we face, from climate change to cyber attacks, and through the National Space Strategy we are putting the UK at the forefront of unleashing these innovations,” said science minister George Freeman. “Whether it’s monitoring greenhouse gas emissions or supporting increased tree planting, this new funding will take game-changing ideas from the UK space sector and our brilliant scientists, and turn them into reality.”

The funding comes from the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) and has been announced today (as the UK hosts the COP 26 climate talks in Glasgow.

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