The UK government has secured commitments of almost £2 billion in investments at this year’s European Space Agency (ESA) council of ministers meeting in Paris.

Science, research and innovation (SRI) minister George Freeman led negotiations for the funding, which will be allocated for a range of space programmes including £66 million earmarked for 12 UK-led projects.

The UK committed £615 million to ESA’s core space science budget, which it says will secure opportunities for UK companies to bid for high-value contracts while establishing new scientific leadership roles for UK universities.

The government said that as a founding member of ESA, the UK’s space and commercial satellite sector will play a leading role in future international missions and “innovative commercial programmes”.

The biggest allocations of the £615 million funding portion includes £217 million towards the global exploration programme, supporting robotic missions to Mars and contributing to the Artemis Moon programme.

£206 million will go towards telecommunications programmes to enable faster 5G and future 6G connectivity.

A £315 million investment will also support Earth observation and climate programmes, with up to £200 million deployed to the EU’S Copernicus Earth Observation programme, which has not been utilised for this purpose due to delays from the EU in agreeing on the UK’s association to the EU research programmes – a matter which the government says has resulted in the instability of various programmes.

“Space is a fundamentally collaborative endeavour, so the European Space Agency Council of ministers was an important opportunity to deepen our international relationships with the goal of advancing space technology for the benefit of all,” said SRI minister George Freeman. “These new investments will support the ongoing growth of the UK space and commercial satellite sector - creating new jobs around the UK from Cornwall to the North of Scotland - and securing UK leadership in space sustainability."

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