£1.5 million for innovations that can tackle UK Defence and Security challenges in space
DASA has launched Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop which seeks innovations that can aid UK Defence and Security to develop future space science and technologies.
- DASA has launched the Charlie Drop of the Space to Innovate Campaign
- Up to £1.5 million in funding available for innovative technologies that can aid UK Defence and Security to develop future space science and technologies
- The Space to Innovate Campaign – Charlie Drop is the third ‘challenge drop’ as part of the Space to Innovate Campaign
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Space Systems Programme are pleased to launch the Charlie Drop of the Space to Innovate Campaign. The Charlie Drop seeks proposals that can aid UK Defence and Security to develop future space science and technologies.
Charlie Drop follows on from the Alpha and Bravo Drops, and offers a broader range of challenge areas to explore novel solutions.
What innovations is DASA looking for?
- novel ways to achieve fine resolution collection for intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR)
- technologies and techniques to alert, protect and defend satellites
- satellite and ground segment technologies for future Defence and Security operations
Tony Forsythe, Head of Space technology at the UK Space Agency, said:
The UK has a fast-growing space sector that makes a significant contribution to our economy and security. We rely on similar underpinning technologies for civil and defence uses of space and, by working together with our partners at Dstl and DASA, we can tackle shared challenges and seize significant new opportunities. With the Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop competition, we are supporting the development of future space science and technology that can benefit us all.
Dr Matt Broadhead - Principal advisor for novel space technology, Dstl, said:
Previous Alpha and Bravo drops identified some great ideas and demonstrated innovation across the space ecosystem. With the Charlie drop, we want to work with the UK Space Agency and UK Space Command to build on this success and find solutions to overcome challenges in space intelligence, military space operations and protecting satellites to support UK Defence and Security into the future.
Key dates and funding
The total funding available for Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop is £1.5 million (excl VAT). DASA expects to fund between 3 and 12 proposals over a 24 month period.
The deadline to submit a proposal is 12 midday BST on Wednesday 12 July 2023.
Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop Challenge Areas
Charlie Drop aims to attract novel scientific and technological solutions from a broad range of innovators, including academia and industry, to address the UK’s Defence and Security space challenges.
Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop has 3 challenge areas which address themes set out by the Defence Space Strategy.
Challenge Area 1: Novel ways to achieve fine resolution collection for intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR)
This challenge area seeks technologies and scientific techniques to achieve fine resolution imaging for space-based ISR / Earth Observation, especially from non-Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Challenge Area 2: Technologies and techniques to alert, protect and defend satellites
This challenge area seeks methods to provide warning of threats, and types of threats to critical Defence and Security assets in space.
Challenge Area 3: Satellite and ground segment technologies for future Defence and Security operations
This challenge seeks to develop technologies for satellite platforms and ground segments of specific relevance to Defence and Security applications.
Read the full competition document to learn more about the challenge areas.
Supporting events
Q&A Webinar
On Wednesday 25 May 2023, DASA hosted a webinar to provide further detail on Space to Innovate – Charlie Drop and its challenge areas. Watch the Webinar below.
Space to Innovate - Charlie Drop Webinar
One-to-one Sessions
20-minute one-on-one teleconference sessions that provide you with the opportunity to ask specific questions you may have.
Submit a proposal
Do you have an innovation that can aid UK Defence and Security to develop future space science and technologies?
Read the full competition document to learn more and submit a proposal.
What is the Space to Innovate Campaign?
The Space to Innovate Campaign was set up to aid UK Defence and Security to develop future space science and technologies. As the third drop in the Space to Innovate Campaign, Charlie Drop follows on from Alpha Drop and Bravo Drops.
The Alpha Drop and Bravo Drops addressed challenges in areas such as visualisation tools for exploiting data from multiple sources, characterisation techniques, ISR technologies and improving signal-to-noise performance of communications and tracking.
The Charlie Drop follows the success of the Alpha Drop, which awarded £1.6 million in contracts to 8 innovators, and Bravo Drop, which awarded £1 million in contracts to 5 innovators. Learn more here.