Notice

Guide to applying to the UK National Call for InCubed2 Proposals

Published 14 April 2023

This notice was withdrawn on 13 June 2023

This call closed on 31 May 2023.

1. InCubed2

In September 2021, the UK Government announced an ambitious National Space Strategy which highlighted Earth Observation as a priority area for the UK. It outlined an ambition for the UK to remain at the forefront of Earth Observation technology and know-how. At the recent ESA Ministerial, the UK subscribed £314m to a range of ESA EO programmes. As part of this subscription, the UK subscribed to the InCubed2 programme. The UK Space Agency is pleased to announce that £1,400,000 of this funding will be made available through this call for proposals.

This guidance details how interested UK entities can apply to the InCubed2 programme. The programme requires ‘National Delegate’ support to be considered for selection by ESA.

1.1 What is National Delegate support

Applicants must demonstrate national support to be considered by ESA for InCubed2 funding. This is called ‘National Delegate support’, as the UK delegates its national support to a named member of staff within the UK Space Agency. This guidance is designed to set out the how national delegate support will be obtained through the InCubed2 application process.

2. Call for proposals: InCubed2

InCubed stands for “Investing in Industrial Innovation” and the programmes focus is on developing innovative and commercially viable products and services using space borne earth observation. The programme has a very wide scope and can co-fund a range of activities from building satellites to on ground data platforms and in between.

Activities within InCubed fall into the following categories:

Space Segment: activities related to any earth observation related product to be used in the spacecraft (platform, payload)

Ground Segment: activities related to the ground segment of an earth observation satellite system (ground stations and mission management, ground networks and data distributions)

Data Segment: activities related to the processing and the use of the earth observation data (Data Processing/ Visualization, Data Analytics/ Insights /Applications)

Or any combination of the above to deliver an end-to-end system.

Further information can be found here

2.1 Purpose of the Call

The theme of this Call is an open request for proposals from UK entities to develop innovative and commercially viable products and services that generate or exploit the value of Earth observation imagery and datasets. Projects must demonstrate that the product or service to be developed is commercially ready by the end of the lnCubed activity.

The envelope for this call is £1,400,000. There is no upper or lower limit on individual projects. A time-length of eighteen months must be outlined from project kick-off to project end to be considered for this call for proposals.

2.2 Assessment criteria

Applications will be scored by ESA against the programmes four criteria; set out in section 5.1. The UK Space Agency application will be scored against the six criteria outlined in section 5.2.

When submitting proposals, applicants should ensure that they have demonstrated a well-considered approach that identifies the potential and long-lasting benefits. Applications should demonstrate a good understanding of their target market and detail the projected financial return, including how it will be achieved.

3. How to apply

3.1 When to apply

The UK call for proposals is open from 19th April 2023 until 31st May 2023. Proposals will only be considered if they are submitted within this period.

Funding Call Opens: 12pm on 7 February 2023.

Deadline for submission of Proposals: 12pm on 31 May 2023.

Joint UK Space Agency/ESA Pitch Day: w/c 12 June

3.2 How to apply

This call for proposals is run in coordination with ESA, who will support the review of applications. To enable the UK Space Agency to fairly assess applications in one tranche, we will be only accepting applications from UK entities ahead of the deadline.

There are three steps to applying for the InCubed2 programme:

Step 1: Pitch your idea directly to ESA using the online tool

ESA will check if you qualify for InCubed co-funding and you may be offered the possibility of pitching your idea in a 15-minute session, followed by 45 minutes of questions from ESA and the UK Space Agency in a joint panel session. At the end of this stage the UK delegation will indicate which proposals they are willing to support to the following application step. This is to allow consideration of proposals in a fair and transparent process by the UK Space Agency and ESA and reduce the time to award for successful applicants.

Step 2: Fill in part 1 of the InCubed proposal

Following a successful idea pitch and with agreement from the UK Space Agency you will be invited to fill in and submit part 1 of the InCubed proposal using this tool. ESA will provide comments on your proposal.

Step 3: Assessment and completion of InCubed proposal

If successful at assessment, you will have up to eight weeks to submit part 2 of the InCubed proposal, taking into account ESA’s feedback. There will also be the possibility of a reiteration.

Once the UK has provided an ‘Authorisation of Funding’ letter approving your proposal, our support is confirmed.

We expect you to stay in touch throughout the life of the programme, from contracting to completion. We expect to publicise most funding awards in coordination with winning companies and to be kept informed of any changes or developments for the duration of the project. This ensures we can support you if any adjustments are needed.

4. Eligibility and assessment criteria

4.1 Eligibility

Please check the ESA guidance on eligibility criteria under the InCubed2 programme. In addition to this, the UK Space Agency will apply the following eligibility criteria:

4.2 Earth Observation

InCubed2 is an Earth Observation programme. Although this may include projects that support other activities, they should be in the context of Earth Observation. Activities that are primarily for another purpose, such as telecommunications, will not be supported.

You can find details of other funding programmes for space on the UK Space Agency website.

4.3 Other UK Space Agency/ESA Applications

To be considered for InCubed2 support, this must be the only programme that proposals are submitted to. Proposals that are currently being assessed as part of a different UK Space Agency/ESA programme will not be eligible for InCubed2 funding.

4.4 Earth Observation Mission Capability Review

To be considered for InCubed2 funding, proposals for Space Segment activities should, where possible, have provided details of their project to the Earth Observation Mission Capability Review.

4.5 UK-based organisations

To be considered for UK National Delegate support, organisations must be UK-based and, for commercial companies, must have a UK registration at Companies House. If you are considering moving to the UK, or you do not have a UK registration, you can seek further guidance from the team at UKSAEOT@ukspacegaency.gov.uk. You may partner with non-UK companies, but these must be funded by other ESA Member States or be self-funded. You can find a list of participating member states here.

4.6 Essential non-UK spend requests

Products and services from non-UK suppliers that are considered essential to deliver successful projects may be included in proposals. However, all proposals must demonstrate their value to the UK and non-UK spend requests are unlikely to score highly against other, UK-based activities. Any non-UK spend requests should be clearly stated in your initial application. Late requests will not be considered if they have not been declared and approved at the applications stage.

4.7 Match-funding

ESA eligibility on match funding states companies can apply for up to 80% funding for programmes:

For all large or non-SME companies, including companies who are wholly owned by large companies or groups of companies, or for SMEs undertaking very high-value programmes – up to 50%.

For all other SME companies and activities – we may consider up to 80%.

However, all matched funding decisions remain at the discretion of the UK Space Agency and rates will be applied to individual organisations relative to their individual projects.

Research organisations and Universities should follow the ESA criteria on funding.

4.8 Regulation, licensing and spectrum use and filing

The UK Space Agency will not fund licensing or regulatory compliance activities, either in the UK or overseas.

We expect to see a viable approach to spectrum use in projects and we will not fund activities that are not supported by current UK Government policy. Where activities involve the novel use of spectrum, we will expect to see evidence of engagement with relevant regulators which demonstrates programmes are viable and are not dependent on a single high-risk or novel use of spectrum.

4.9 Travel and Subsistence

UK will only support reasonable travel and subsistence costs. No claims for alcohol or entertainment will be accepted.

All projected expenditure must be recorded in the relevant ESA proposal. The UK Space Agency reserves the right not to support projects where costs appear excessive, and any challenges may delay your application to ESA.

If you are in any doubt about what is reasonable you should contact the team.

5. Assessment criteria

5.1 ESA Assessment criteria within Step 1 (Ideas Pitch)

ESA will evaluate proposals against the following criteria:

1. Business case credibility
2. Technical feasibility
3. Earth Observation Link
4. Team Capability

5.2 ESA Assessment criteria within Step 2 (Formal Project Proposal)

ESA will evaluate proposals against the criteria of the programme.

Understanding of the Programme Objectives:

• improvement of global competitiveness of Europe in EO commercial markets;
• substantial degree of innovation (new or improved competencies for Economic Operator(s));
• tangible results within the timespan of InCubed,
• credibility of the business opportunity in the market context including sustainability in the commercial market without further institutional support.

Quality and completeness of the technical proposal:

• key requirements and proposed architectures and concepts versus activity objectives;
• evaluation of technical risks and credibility of the risk mitigation actions.

Adequacy of the management approach, planning and co-funding

• adequacy of the work packages
• meeting plan, deliverables and schedule.
• completeness of the costing, value for money, assessment of financial risk versus company resources,
• credibility of proposed co-funding scheme.

Experience

• company/ies technical and commercial experience in all areas of the proposed activities,
• completeness of the team with respect to the value chain,
• relevant experience

5.3 UKSA Assessment Criteria (Ideas Pitch)

The UK delegation will judge the project on the following general criteria:

1. Approach and methodology – there should be a well-considered approach to the project, with clear goals, risk management and mitigations.
2. Commercial Readiness - Projects must demonstrate that the product or service to be developed is commercially ready by the end of the lnCubed activity.
3. Financial return – there should be a strongly demonstrated financial return to the UK space sector, including both to the lead applicant and their partners and supply chains.
4. Innovation – we will consider whether the goal of the programme is challenging enough to warrant support, as well as whether it is a suitable innovation target. Importantly, innovation can be in product or service development, including design, manufacture or demonstration.
5. Wider benefits – Environmental, Social or Economic – we will consider the wider direct or indirect benefits from the programme, which can be supplemented with case studies or other formats.
6. Timeliness – we will consider the feasibility of the project being completed within the eighteen-month guidelines set out in the call.

All proposals are considered in competition with other proposals received. We reserve the right to fund up to the funding level sought, or less, where we consider the need for the sum requested has not been sufficiently demonstrated.

6. Additional information

6.1 Complaints

If you are unhappy with either the outcome of your application or how the process was managed, or for any other reason, you can make a complaint by contacting the team at UKSAEOT@ukspaceagency.gov.uk Please set out the nature of your complaint in detail. The team will try to resolve a complaint in the first instance but, if resolution is not possible, we will refer it to the UK Space Agency central complaints process, where it will be independently assessed.

6.2 Further information

If you would like any further information, or have any questions or feedback about this guidance, or would like to join our mailing list to receive updates about future funding opportunities, please contact the team: UKSAEOT@ukspaceagency.gov.uk.