Announcement of opportunity

Question 1

1. Organisation Eligibility

Accepted Answer

This section to be applies to all applicants including partner organisations.

We welcome bids from a variety of organisations including academia, industry and other not for profit organisations:

there are a series of requirements for eligibility to receive grant funding: all applicants must also provide brief and relevant company or organisation background information, including areas of expertise
grant recipients must demonstrate the ability to effectively manage a project
grant recipients must have a UK bank account and all grant payments will be made in UK sterling (as per grant funding agreement)
all organisations including partner organisations must also be registered in the UK and provide information of their company registration and official address
all project members must have in place and provide evidence of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies
all project members must provide evidence of a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest
all project members must be able to provide evidence that they are General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) compliant
projects cannot work in areas that are in active conflict and any travel to overseas must comply with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recommendations
projects must pass due diligence checks on company viability (financial standing assessment, governance, conflicts of interest, technical expertise)
formal teaming, or equivalent agreements between project partners must be in place within 60 calendar days of grant signature
projects must comply with the rules stated in this guidance document
applicants that have received more then £10m in public funding for this project or the same policy objective within the last 3 years are ineligible for this call. Further guidance on cumulation can be found within chapter 10 of the Subsidy Control Act staturotry guidance.

Following receipt of bids and before award of any grant, new entrants will be required to provide additional eligibility details;

evidence of company legitimacy and financial solvency supported by e.g., company Annual Reports
details of company quality processes and accreditation
track record supported by reputation or by statements from referees and customer testimonials

For newly formed companies who do not have first year accounts then one or more of the following could be deemed as acceptable proof of eligibility;

reference from their bank – confirming capital solvency and appropriate management of finances etc industry/trade reference from either customers or suppliers
Companies House registration details

Question 2

2. Application Guidelines for Projects

Accepted Answer

2.1 Overview

Please read the following guidelines carefully to ensure that your application includes all of the information required.

To submit your proposal to this call you must complete the following documents:

Template A Application form
Annex 4 Overheads (Excel) (if using calculated overheads option)
Annex 5 Finance Sheet (Excel)
Annex 6 Grant Applicant Checklist (Excel)
Annex 7 North Star Metric

Please see below information which includes maximum page count, where applicable, for each section. Should any part of the application overrun the specified page limit, we will only consider material up to the designated page limit that is in the correct format.

Only information contained in the provided templates will be considered when proposals are reviewed. Any additional information provided in a covering letter or email or additional document will not be considered.

When submitting documents, Annex A must be submitted in both .docx./odt and .pdf, while excel spreadsheets should be submitted as .xlsx.

Where letters of support or references are submitted in support of your proposal they should be added into the page at the end of Template A.

Note: Where a template is specified, this must be unaltered and used in submission. Should any part of the application overrun the specified page limit, we will only consider material up to the designated page limit that is in the correct format. Should any Section be omitted, or the Template altered, the proposal will be rejected.

2.2 Application form (Template A)

The application summarises key information concerning the project proposal submission. The format of this document must not be altered including any changes to, or the removal of, the UK Space Agency logo.

2.3 Project summary (maximum 1 page + 1 diagram/image)

The project summary must be brief and contain no confidential or sensitive Intellectual Property (IP) material. This summary should include the project objective and outline themes/topic. A single diagram or picture may be included on an additional page in support of the project summary.

The intention is that, should the project be funded, information from this summary may be used for publication on the UK Space Agency websites and/or used in press releases.

2.4 Strategic case (maximum 8 pages)

Explain the wider impact of this project on the sector and provide the context for why it should be funded by the UK Space Agency. Please include in the relevant sections:

Benefit of the proposed activity to the Space Sector, wider society and the economy
Catalysing Investment: demonstrate good value for money in terms of job creation and retention, and investment, contracts and turnover generated within the UK Space economy
Business Case and Route to Market: demonstrate the future ambitions and planned progression of the identified project and research on the target market research and potentila market share. Include next steps
Disruptive Technology: demonstrate potential for the proposed outputs to cause significant change to the space sector, for example through radically reducing costs or times, improving the quality of existing capabilities or creating entirely new capabilities and business models (up to half a page)
Applicability to Space: demonstrate the technology can be applied in a setting either in Space or interacting with Space (up to half a page)
Competition and Barriers: explain how the project is competitive and demonstrates value within its market. Consider barriers to market entry and rival technologies, applications and services (up to 1 page)
Technological Innovation: explain how the proposed activity is novel or can be applied in a novel setting; an innovative approach or technology (up to half a page)
Collaboration: outline the added value of any collaboration, please also use this section to provide justification if you have chosen not to work with any project partners (up to half a page)

2.5 Technical case & project management (maximum 6 pages)

Please include a description of the work to be undertaken and the project plan including:

project objectives and success criteria describing how these will be demonstrated by the milestone deliverables
work package technical details (i.e. activities, risk, dependencies), please map these to the project milestones
an outline project plan, including a work breakdown structure, a project schedule/Gantt chart, and clearly defined deliverables for each work package. The project schedule should include both technical and project management/reporting activities
deliverables must be clearly identified as to their scope and delivery schedule
clear identification of the project manager(s) including the control mechanisms put in place to manage the project and how resources will be allocated and managed
information on collaboration between partner organisations and Intellectual Property Rights
a list of the individuals involved, and the resources required, identifying which institutions and individuals will be performing which functions and the respective resources requested and any recruitment gaps
for very new and unfamiliar concepts, you should also include references to any relevant - preferably peer-reviewed publications

2.6 Milestone Payment Plan

Please set out payment plans including:

payment plans must be constructed to include and reflect major project stages and intermediate deliverables
the first milestone should reflect a significant stage in the project and cannot be made on completion of the kick-off meeting (T+0) as this is not eligible for a milestone payment
If the actual cost of a proposed milestone is greater than the value of the milestone this additional cost must be borne by the grant recipient
Payment will be made in arrears (a cost recovery basis) and on acceptance by the UK Space Agency of deliverables and/or reporting and the final report
The payment of the grant will be made in staged payments and on successful completion of the project by way of final reporting and final review meeting

Applicants should note:

the funds from Grant funding are on a cost recovery basis only
grants are solely intended to cover the cost of delivering the agreed activity or goal. Any surplus funds not spent will be lost to the project unless there are alternative arrangements agreed prior to the spend
applicants cannot receive any funding from other grants/contracts to undertake the same activities.
grant funding cannot be rolled over between financial years without explicit written consent from UK Space Agency
the UK Space Agency must be approached in the first instance to consider and agree alternative arrangements before they can be accepted

2.7 Risk Table (no page limit)

Record the risk impact and likelihood using high, medium or low assessment, and mitigation measures to manage the delivery of your proposed project. This should include but is not limited to:

Technical
Resourcing
Timescale
Commercial
Supply chains
Sub-contractor & partner activity

Please also describe a description of your risk methodology.

2.8 Company or organisation background (maximum 1 page per organisation)

This section should include a short description of the background to the company or companies or organisation/s and also include a summary of their track record(s).

2.9 CVs (1 page per person)

Please provide brief CVs of key project personnel from both the lead organisation, and all project partners (1 page per individual).

2.10 Please complete Annexes A and B

2.11 Financial Information (MS excel spreadsheet)

Please include financial information as follows:

the completed finance table (Annex 5)
a justification of the resources requested, including travel plans and other expenditure, including travel to the UK Space Agency, Swindon London or Harwell
equipment must be listed separately
a clear statement of the match funding investment offered, and its relationship to the subsidy control exclusions (see section 13 and Annex 1 and Annex 2)
if the calculated overheads option is chosen please also complete Annex 4

Question 3

3. Finance Policy

Accepted Answer

All partners must use a separate, project-specific, bank account or project accounting code for project funds to enable a clear audit trail.

3.1 Invoicing

The UK Space Agency will only pay on actuals therefore we expect invoices may differ from forecasts. Should actual costs incurred be greater than the value of the milestone value, these costs will be borne by the Grant Recipient, unless the additional expenditure has been agreed with the UK Space Agency ahead of the costs being incurred and a Grant Change Notice (GCN) executed.

3.2 Staff Costs

Staff costs must be calculated on a cost recovery basis only and broken down by pay costs and overheads separately.

3.3 Pay costs

Pay costs are calculated based on your PAYE records. They should include gross salary, employer National Insurance (NI) contributions and employer pension contributions. Pay costs must not include:

Any profit margins
Commercial charge-out rates
Allowances for bonuses and benefits in kind
Business development
Travel and subsistence

These pay rates will be subject to checks during the negotiation stage by internal or external teams to ensure that day rates reflect actual costs. High payroll costs will be challenged and evidence (such as pay slips, etc) must be provided to justify that the rate is on a cost recovery basis only.

When making grant claims against labour costs, actual costs claimed must be supported with timesheets of those individuals who have worked on the project. If this level of detail is not achievable, then any other arrangements should be agreed in writing during the due diligence checks and subject to Agency approval.

In the budget breakdown, you are asked to provide a pay cost per day. Using actual gross monthly payroll costs, please assume 260 working days in the year, less annual leave and public holiday entitlements.

Question 4

4. Overheads

Accepted Answer

We understand that organisations calculate overheads in different ways.

This section offers 3 options for overhead costs:

No overheads. You can select this option if you are not incurring or claiming grant for your overheads
The 20% of labour costs option allows you to claim 20% of your labour costs as overhead. This includes both direct and indirect overhead. Selecting this option allows us to review a successful grant application much faster as no further documentation is needed from you
The calculate overheads option asks you to complete calculations for claiming direct and indirect overheads. Any value claimed under this method will need to be reviewed by our project finance team if your application is successful. This is so we can assess the appropriateness of the overhead value you are claiming

Full overhead recovery or full absorption costing is not eligible.

Please note that once the overhead is calculated and approved it cannot be exceeded at any time throughout the project life.

For option 3 you must complete the overhead calculation spreadsheet and return with your grant submission.

The spreadsheet has 2 sections to fill:

indirect (administration) overheads
direct overheads

Once each section is completed the ‘Total overheads’ will calculate your total amount, for review by the UK Space Agency.

4.1 Indirect (administration) overhead

Selecting the indirect (administration) overheads link will take you to a template you’ll need to complete to calculate these costs.

We class indirect overheads as those costs associated with back-office functions (such as finance, HR, administration staff) whose primary function is to support the running of a business enterprise. Typically, these costs are not directly related to a particular product or service production.

Indirect overhead costs are eligible for inclusion if they are incurred directly as a result of undertaking the project. They must be additional, which means over and above your business-as-usual costs. Requests for higher then 20% overheads that cannot clearly demonstrate the additional resource specifically due to the grant being undertaken will be rejected.

Where you have already identified specific ‘indirect’ individuals working directly on the project, these should have been captured in the labour costs (section) together with their attributable overhead. We have provided cost categories in the template.

Below provides our definition for each category.

Board and senior management

The proportion of salary costs (including employer’s NI) of the board and senior management of the company. This should be where they are engaged in strategic or administrative tasks. Do not include those working directly on the project or who are customer facing or operational.

Administrative staff

The salary costs (including employer’s NI) of main administrative staff, such as receptionists and central administration. Do not include administrative staff employed to support sales, marketing, account management and profit generating departments.

Human resources staff

The salary costs (including employer’s NI) of human resource staff.

Employed estates staff

The salary costs (including employer’s NI) of employed cleaning, maintenance, security and other estates staff.

Finance department staff

The salary costs (including employer’s NI) of main finance department staff, such as payroll, accounts payable and receivable. Do not include staff employed to support sales, marketing or account management activities.

Administrative support temporary/agency staff costs

This should include fees paid for the provision of temporary staff in administration or support services as listed above. Do not include any staff that are operational, such as marketing, sales, engineering, quality assurance, research and development and supply chain.

General office IT services

Include general IT services used across the whole organisation. Do not include IT costs where they relate purely to non-eligible staff or manufacturing, production or fee earning activities.

General postage

Include postage and courier expenses for general administration needs. Do not include product delivery or any postage costs incurred through promotion, sales, marketing customer relationship or accounts management.

Office supplies, printing and stationery costs

General office stationery and supplies such as paper, business cards, corporate stationery, office equipment for support/admin staff listed above. Do not include specific costs associated with sales, marketing, product delivery, product literature or reports.

Security and safety costs

Include costs associated with site and staff safety and security including signage and health and safety costs.

Building maintenance - administration office facilities only

Include general repair and maintenance costs of administration facilities. Do not include repair and maintenance of manufacturing/production facilities and exceptional items such as new works or extensions which are not eligible for inclusion in this section.

Building rental - administration office facilities only

Where office space is leased include the rental costs. Do not include rental costs relating to manufacturing/production facilities and the cost of any deposits or penalties.

Contracted site services - administration office facilities only

Costs of contracted services relating to administration facilities such as cleaning of offices. Do not include contracted service costs related to manufacturing/production facilities.

Site property taxes - administration offices facilities only

Property taxes and charges relating to office space. Do not include manufacturing/production facility property taxes and charges.

Utilities - administration office facilities only

Electricity, gas, water, waste disposal, telecoms costs relating to administration office facilities.

The following is a step-by-step guide to help you fill in the relevant details to make your costs claim for indirect overhead.

Column A

Starting with your latest set of audited accounts please input your details against the relevant cost category in column A. If you are a new company or this information is unavailable, please use internal management accounts or forecast data.

Note that for the administration support staff costs section, the costs included here must be based upon PAYE (gross salary, NI, company pension contribution, life insurance). They should exclude discretionary package costs such as bonuses, awards, PRP and dividends. In addition, please exclude any members working directly on the project who are customer facing or those engaged in operational/production areas.

Column B

In this column you should detail the proportion of the costs outlined in column A that represent core administration activity. You should follow the definitions and eligibility criteria outlined in the cost categories table above. You can use a percentage.

Column C

In column C please state what percentage of these costs you would assess as being additional and directly attributable administration activity to the project you are undertaking. By additional we mean over and above business as usual and specific to the grant.

Column D

Based upon the details you’ve given in the previous columns; column D will automatically calculate the costs you’ve stated as being attributable to this project.

Column E

In column E you will need to provide some description of the cost constituents.

Once you have filled in this data you will see a percentage calculation (column F). This calculates what you consider as being eligible indirect overhead costs for your project (D) as a proportion of the annual audited figures (A). To save you time we use this calculated percentage and apply it to the remainder cost categories you have completed.

Any administration costs that are ineligible in this section, but which directly relate to the project (for example based on invoices), should be claimed as direct costs within other sections of the finance form.

Completion of the indirect overheads template will calculate an annual total which will be proportioned for the length of time you are working on the project. You will see a per annum, per month and a per project cost. The per project costs will form your total indirect overheads as a monetary value.

Once you have filled out your indirect overhead’s information choose the ‘return to the overheads section’ to take you back to the main overheads section. Here you will see a summary of your indirect overhead.

4.2 Direct overhead

Selecting the direct overheads link will take you to a template you’ll need to complete to calculate these costs. We understand that in undertaking a project you may incur associated costs with those staff working directly on the project. We refer to these as direct overheads.

Typical costs in this area could include direct staff provision of laptops (non-capital only), desks, office (such as occupancy, facilities and utilities) and IT infrastructure and systems. This section is provided in free format for you to list out such costs.

Direct overhead costs must be directly attributable to the project you are undertaking and should not represent a full recovery methodology inclusive of redundant, spare capacity time or cost. You should detail the costs and include a description of each item together with the methodology or basis of apportionment used. This should include the calculations that support the claimable costs. This will help us to validate these costs if your project is successful. If your costs have been subject to an independent audit verification, we may ask you to provide this report to support our financial eligibility reviews.

Please note that costs associated with laboratories or workshops should be included within the other costs section of the application form.

Once you have completed the direct overhead you should select ‘return to the overheads section’. You will return to the main overhead section where you will see a summary of your overhead claim for both direct and indirect overheads.

4.3 Full Economic Cost for academic organisations

Some academic organisations are able to claim 80% of the full economic cost of activity under the grant. This should be clearly stated on your application. Full details can e found in Annex 1.

Question 5

5. Vat Rules

Accepted Answer

Where money is given freely to an activity and the donor receives nothing tangible in return, the activity is treated as non-business for VAT purposes and is outside the scope for VAT. The UK Space Agency grant funding is outside the scope for VAT. Any VAT incurred within the project costs cannot be passed to the UK Space Agency. This includes both input and output VAT whether recoverable or non-recoverable from HMRC.

Note: Provision of regular project update reports does not count as a benefit received by UK Space Agency as these are used for monitoring purposes so that the Agency can ensure that the terms and conditions of the grant are being met. UK Space Agency as the funder does not receive anything in return for the consideration paid (grant) eg, services or transfer of IP.

Question 6

6. Ineligible Expenditure

Accepted Answer

The following costs are ineligible:

Payment that supports for lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action
Using grant funding to petition for additional funding
Input VAT reclaimable by the grant recipient from HMRC
Payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature
Goods or services that the grant recipient has a statutory duty to provide
Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants
Contributions in kind (ie, a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money)
Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets owned by the grant recipient
The acquisition or improvement of fixed assets by the grant recipient (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the Grant Offer Letter)
Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
Gifts to individuals
Entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations)
Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties, or liabilities incurred before the issue of this funding agreement unless agreed in writing by UK Space Agency
Employee paid benefits and bonuses
Alcohol

Question 7

7. Travel and subsistence

Accepted Answer

The following outlines the guidelines for travel and subsistence costs. Value for money must always be considered. If for any reason the set limits cannot be adhered to (eg to accommodate a reasonable adjustment), you must seek prior written approval from UK Space Agency. No claims for alcohol will be accepted.

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to not settle claims which have breached these guidelines. All expenditure must be supported by actual, itemised receipts.

Limits:

Accommodation: £140 per night London
Accommodation: £100 per night outside London
Breakfast: £5
Lunch: £5
Dinner: £15

Travel:

All travel claimed must be using economy rates.
Tolls, ferry costs, parking and congestion charge: receipted costs for ferries, and tolls bridges and roads unavoidably incurred during your business journey may be claimed. Reasonable parking charges may be claimed. Receipted congestion charges unavoidably incurred on your business journey may be claimed.

Question 8

8. The Grant Funding Agreement (GFA)

Accepted Answer

the UK Space Agency is unable to provide funding for projects and activities to any applicant that has previously or is receiving funding from other grants or contracts to undertake the same activities
projects and activities must conclude within the 36 month maximum project period
all applications will be judged, as part of their proposal, on their value for money in accordance with HMT Managing Public Money
the value of the grant awarded represents the maximum amount payable under any resulting Grant Funding Agreement
awards will take the form of a grant funding agreement between the UK Space Agency and the project’s lead organisation
applicants should note that the UK Space Agency will not cover any costs associated with preparing proposals
grants cannot be given to companies or organisations in financial difficulties
no material changes to the terms will be considered
minor changes may be considered if an applicant can demonstrate that agreeing to the provision within the Grant Funding Agreement would result in the applicant breaching its statutory or regulatory obligations
grant applicants wishing to propose changes should not make changes directly to templates but engage with the call lead at nsip@ukspaceagency.gov.uk and advice will be provided
the UK Space Agency has the right to refuse changes to the grant funding agreement terms, in line with its grant policy for grant funding and appropriate use of public money
any requests for changes will be considered on a case-by-case basis
the final decision to accept any changes rests with the UK Space Agency

A draft Grant Offer Letter has also been included within the call documents to demonstrate the terms that successful applicants will be required to sign up to. This should be reviewed by applicants. Inclusion of the Draft Offer letter does not constitute any offer of work or payment by the UK Space Agency at this stage and is provided for information purposes only.

Question 9

9. Grant Recipient Code of Conduct

Accepted Answer

All organisations in receipt of grant funding must abide by the UK government Code of Conduct for Grant Recipients.

Question 10

10. Annual audit of project costs

Accepted Answer

All projects will be subject to an external annual audit to ensure that costs claimed from the grant funding have been expensed on agreed project related expenditure and comply to UK Space Agency grant funding policies (eg match funding). The auditor will be appointed by UK Space Agency. All subcontractors and partners must provide access to project relevant expenditure. Therefore, grant recipients must maintain, and be able to provide upon request, any supporting evidenced as deemed necessary, such as:

timesheets (prime and, where applicable, partners)
staff costs (contractors)
all receipts (including T&S)
all partner and subcontractor invoices
breakdown of overhead costs
breakdown of capital usage (eg licence, data costs etc)

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to conduct ad-hoc audits throughout the life of the project.

Question 11

11. Due Diligence

Accepted Answer

The UK Space Agency will carry out due diligence on grant applications as required using internal and, where necessary, external subject matter experts. The scope and degree of due diligence will be determined by the value, nature and complexity of the grant scheme. All applications will be subject to basic checks such as credit reports and Companies House checks.

Additional pre-award due diligence may include, but is not limited to:

technical assessment of the proposed project: including technical viability and sustainability
financial assessment: organisation financial standing/health, assessment of project costs, aid intensity values and match funding contributions
economic impact/VFM assessment
commercial: viability and/or commercial sustainability of the proposed solution, market position, demand and/or interest in technology, terms of the grant funding agreement
programmatic: alignment to aims and objectives of the programme, programme plan which demonstrates the project can be delivered within the funding period and the critical path, risks and issues, details on project partners and/or subcontractors

Post-award due diligence may include, but if not limited to:

technical assessment of milestone deliverables against acceptance criteria to allow milestone payments to be released
financial: assessment of expenditure for each milestone payment and reporting on planned costs, follow up review of financial standing/health if it is a multi-year project
commercial: change management including any variations to time, cost, scope, or GFA terms. Review of milestone deliverables as required
programmatic: project progress and impacts of any delays, risk assessment and mitigation activity
end of project review: has the technical and economic value been realised? Lessons learned and continuous improvement
£250k and over grants only: UK Space Agency commissioned and funded financial audit of grant recipient, and if applicable project partner, costs

Grant applicants who opt to work with project partners, companies involved in delivery of the project under a flow down agreement rather than a subcontractor, will assume all responsibility for partner due diligence.

Applicants will need to demonstrate they have carried out a sufficient level of due diligence with regard to their proposed project partners and subcontractors. Applicants will need to demonstrate they have carried out minimum checks at proposal stage, which may require further scrutiny if the proposal is to be funded.

To meet this requirement, applicants can provide evidence of due diligence carried out supported by the resulting information or submit a partner reasonable assurance statement. The evidence should be consistent with the checks that we would conduct on our Grant Recipients, for examples, financial standing, technical ability and scrutiny of the breakdown of costs. Any costs associated with project partner due diligence is considered a bidding cost and is to be borne by the applicant.

Applicants must provide evidence that they, and project partners have in place of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption internal policies, and a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest.

Question 12

12. The UK Space Agency’s North Star Metric

Accepted Answer

12.1 The North Star Metric

UK Space Agency grant recipients are required to report on how the grant has led to investment and contract revenue. The UK Space Agency works to ensure that our investment in space brings about real benefit to the UK and its people. Our principal metric by which the UK Space Agency measures its success is the level of total investment and contract revenue we help to bring into the UK space sector. Consistent monitoring and evaluation of our programmes is vital, so we understand how well we are delivering the UK Space Agency’s objectives. This in turn helps us to ensure we are delivering the National Space Strategy, and informs how we prioritise our resource, select the projects we invest in, and make the case for future public spending on space.

We therefore require, as a condition of funding, that all recipients report the benefits they receive as a result.

12.2 Data to be collected

Reporting will primarily involve four key elements:

Total income
Total Internal Investment
Total Private Investment
Additional detail on funding sources as appropriate

More detailed definitions can be found below:

Private investment

Money invested by companies, individuals, or financial organisations through the following vehicles: equity, grant, prize, debt or alternative finance sources – excluding funding provided by UK Space Agency directly or via the European Space Agency.

Internal Investment

Investment within a company, or from a parent company to its subsidiary, to cover R&D, capital expenditures and other non-capital expenditures such development of intellectual property.

Total income

Additional income generated from creation of goods and services, as a result of the specified grant. In the longer term this may also include income generated from royalties and licenses.

12.3 Data collection

This information will be collected and stored in a table. Please note that data will not be shared with other companies and that it will be held securely in an anonymised form so that you cannot be directly identified:

Grant number
Delivery priority (to be filled out by the UK Space Agency programme manager)
Quarter
Total funding value (£)
Amount of match funding provided as a condition of UK Space Agency funding
Additional revenue generated from goods and services as a result of UK Space Agency support (total value £)
Private investment generated as a result of UK Space Agency support (total value £)
Source of additional investment: foreign/domestic
Internal investment of funds made as a result of UK Space Agency support (total value £)
Internal Investment of funds made as a result of UK Space Agency support (total value £)
Additional jobs created as a result of funding received

Data should only be reported where it could be reasonably stated that the revenue and/or investment in question would not have occurred without the UK Space Agency’s funding. Where the revenue and/or investment may have only been partially realised in the absence of the UK Space Agency’s funding, best efforts should be made to estimate the proportion of contract revenue and/or investment which can have been said to have occurred as a result, and;

to be reported on a 6 monthly basis from the start of the activity covered by this agreement
data will be required for at least 5 years after the completion of the activity covered by this agreement
where the length of benefit realisation would be longer than 5 years, the UK Space Agency may require an extended reporting period. This is to ensure that we are capturing the full benefits of an activity that has a long time period before those benefits are realised. Where this is the case the UK Space Agency will agree with grant recipients beforehand at the time at which a further request for information is sensible
any additional benefits that have resulted from the UK Space Agency’s funding can also be reported through open text response

The information you provide will only be used by the UK Space Agency and not shared with any other parties. Aggregate information may be presented more widely but this will be fully anonymised and not be attributable to any individual organisation.

In addition, this information is being used to assess the agencies impact on the space sector and is not intended to be used as a way to evaluate how the grant is being run. Not the individual performance of grants.

Please confirm the name and contact details of the person in your organisation who will be responsible for providing this information.

If you have any specific questions on this requirement, please contact the UK Space Agency programme manager at nsip@ukspaceagency.gov.uk or named UK Space Agency contact.

Question 13

13. Subsidy control

Accepted Answer

The UK Space Agency supports organisations to invest in research, development and innovation. The support we provide is consistent with the UK’s international obligations and commitments to Subsidy Control (see further information at Annexes 1 and 2).

Before awarding subsidies, the UK Space Agency must ensure that the subsidy scheme meets the terms of the principles as determined in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

The principles are that:

subsidies should pursue a specific public policy objective to remedy an identified market failure or to address an equity rationale such as local or regional disadvantage, social difficulties, or distributional concerns (“the objective”)
subsidies should be proportionate to their specific policy objective and limited to what is necessary to achieve the objective
subsidies should be designed to bring about a change of economic behaviour of the beneficiary that is conducive to achieving the objective and that would not be achieved in the absence of subsidies being provided
subsidies should not normally compensate for the costs the beneficiary would have funded in the absence of any subsidy
subsidies should be an appropriate policy instrument to achieve a public policy objective and that objective cannot be achieved through other less distortive means
subsidies’ positive contributions to achieving the objective should outweigh any negative effects, in particular the negative effects on trade or investment between the parties
subsidies should be designed to achieve their specific policy objective while minimising any negative effects on competition or investment within the United Kingdom.

Due to cumulation rules and limits of the scheme, organisations seeking project funding that would exceed a total of £10 million from public bodies in the last 3 years for this project will be ineligible to apply for this opportunity.

To ensure this competition provides funding in line with the UK’s obligations and commitments to subsidy control.

The intervention rates detailed in Annex 2 shall apply unless:

the bidder seeks to claim exemption from having to make a contribution under the Minimal Financial Assistance Allowance (previously known as de-minimis under State Aid & Small Amounts of Financial Assistance under Trade & Co-operation Agreement) rules.
the bidder is a research or public sector organisation or charity and the award of funding does not meet the definition of a subsidy in accordance with section 2(1) of the Subsidy Control act 2022 (see Annex 1)
Grant recipients will need to demonstrate that cumulation of project costs do not exceed the limit for awards under the streamlined scheme. (See Annex 1)

Bidders must identify the work proposed, and this must be consistent with the work programme described in the technical case. Note that the company size defines the maximum ‘intervention’ rate (and hence the minimum required match funding level) that is permitted (see Annex 2). Bidders will be expected to justify the category of work selected.

Bidders must ensure that they supply the correct information that allows UK Space Agency to award grants within the scheme. It is the responsibility of the grant funder to ensure compliance with the relevant subsidy control rules and the bidder to assist the funder in doing this by acting within the terms and conditions of the scheme. Further guidance about subsidy control is available on the gov.uk website.

Question 14

14. Assessment of Applications

Accepted Answer

Applications for project funding will be assessed by a selection panel which will consist of UK Space Agency internal staff and independent UK Space Agency approved reviewers drawn from academia, industry, government or the research council review colleges. The panel will assess the proposals according to the criteria listed below, considering the commitment of the organisations involved, in particular the lead organisation, to the success of the project and the financial viability of the organisations involved.

Assessment criteria section:

Catalysing Investment: To demonstrate good value for money in terms of job creation, retention and investment to the UK Space economy.
Business Case and Route to Market: To assess whether the applicant can demonstrate relevance to a new or existing business model. Assessment of how detailed the market research and market share analysis has been.
Application to Space: To demonstrate the technology can be applied in a setting either in space or interacting with space.
Competition and Barriers: To assess whether the proposal is competitive to the Space industry and the barriers to market entry have been described and considered.
Risk Mitigation: To assess whether the right level of risk assessment and mitigation has been applied, both in the risk register and throughout the document.
Technological Innovation: To assess whether the technology is novel or can be applied in a novel setting. Additionally, a demonstration of innovation in either the approach or the technology.
Project Management: To assess the fundamental project management of this proposal, including a methodical approach to cost, quality and schedule.
Quality of Team and Proposal: To assess the suitability, competence and experience of the team proposed to carry out the work described.
Collaboration: To assess whether any collaboration proposed provides clear additional value to the project or the sector (collaboration without clear added value will not receive additional points)
Disruptive Technology: demonstrate potential for the proposed outputs to cause significant change to the space sector, for example through radically reducing costs or times, improving the quality of existing capabilities or creating entirely new capabilities and business models.

Each assessment criteria will be scored from 1-5 (low to high). A weighting multiplier will then be applied to each assessment criteria based on the priorities of the call. For this call, the weighting multipliers are as follows:

Assessment Criteria Questions	Weighting Multiplier
1	Catalysing Investment	4
2	Business Case and Route to Market	3
3	Application to Space	2
4	Competition and Barriers	2
5	Risk Mitigation	2
6	Technological Innovation	2
7	Project Management	2
8	Quality of Team and Proposal	1
9	Collaboration	1
10	Disruptive Technology	1

Note: The weightings of NSIP Major Projects differ from NSIP Kick Starter to match the focus of each part of the programme. You may wish to consider this when determining the most appropriate fund for your proposal.

A summary of the assessment process is below:

Only proposals received by the closing time and date will be considered.
Initial sift of proposals will remove any proposals which do not meet the eligibility.
Eligible proposals will be assessed by independent reviewers to be scored against assessment criteria.
A moderation panel will follow to ensure consistency in marking.
A scored and ranked list of fundable proposals will be generated. This will inform an internal UK Space Agency NSIP portfolio selection panel that will determine the projects to be funded.
If needed, clarifications will be sought from organisations.
All applicants will be advised of the outcome.
Due diligence will be conducted throughout the call process and project duration. If due diligence results in irreconcilable differences, the grant will not be placed.

Note: Funded proposals will be selected on a prioritised basis, based on the highest evaluation score received and strategic value to UK Space Agency. In the event of budget still being available, but the next proposal being in access of the available funding, the UK Space Agency reserves the right to award a grant to a lower scoring proposal.

14.1 Reserve List

Where projects are deemed to be fundable but are not funded they will kept on a reserve list in UK Space Agency should additional funding become available. If applicable, lead contacts will be contacted to determine the viability of the project at a later date.

Question 15

15. Project Monitoring and Reporting

Accepted Answer

Following an award and completion of grant agreement formalities projects will be expected to start as soon as possible. The UK Space Agency will assign a project coordinator to oversee the projects with the following methodology:

the project coordinator will initiate each project normally by teleconference via a kick-off meeting which should be accompanied by a short presentation on the project by the project team
the grant recipient will provide short progress reports to the coordinator, and the schedule for these will be agreed at the project kick-off meeting and are normally at 4 or 6 weeks or milestone intervals
the grant recipient will schedule quarterly progress meetings with the coordinator
the grant recipient will provide details of milestone/deliverables within the proposal
the grant recipient will provide reporting on the progress of the project to evidence the milestone/deliverable has been met. On acceptance of the evidenced milestone/deliverable the grant recipient will be invited to provide an invoice detailing the spend against each budgetary category for that milestone/deliverable
at the end of the project a final report and an IPR free executive summary are to be provided to the UK Space Agency. The executive summary must not contain any confidential information, as this may be uploaded onto the UK Space Agency website. All other reports should be marked commercial in confidence where applicable
the grant recipient will also schedule a final review meeting with the coordinator at the appropriate time

There may be a project final presentation day in which each of the project teams will be invited to present a summary of their work and achievements.

In addition to on going reporting, successful applicants will be expected to provide the UK Space Agency with 6 monthly updates on North Star Metrics during the course of project delivery, and information on the impact of funding support up to 10 years after project completion.

Question 16

16. Confidentiality

Accepted Answer

The procedure for handling and assessing the applications for project funding will be as follows;

completed applications must be submitted to the UK Space Agency, nsip@ukspaceagency.gov.uk
all proposals will be held in confidence
once the call closing date has passed, electronic copies of all eligible documents will be distributed to the independent assessment panel members. UK Space Agency confidentiality rules will apply
documents submitted for projects not recommended by the panel for funding will be destroyed within 12 months of the call close date, however basic information will be retained to support internal analysis and continuous improvement of the programme
information submitted for those projects selected for funding will be retained by UK Space Agency but remain confidential
summary information about the projects selected for funding may be published on the UK Space Agency website

The UK Space Agency will monitor the funded project through project reports and the submission of project deliverables. The Agency requests that any confidential information is clearly marked OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE-COMMERCIAL.

Question 17

17. Flow Down Agreement

Accepted Answer

Should an award be made, any project partners will be required to establish a Flow Down Agreement between its members and must be in place within 30 calendar days of the grant signature. The Flow Down Agreement should include provisions regarding how the results of the work, including IPR and spinouts, will be exploited by the project partners.

Question 18

18. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Accepted Answer

Protection of any Intellectual Property (IP) rights on the project will remain the responsibility of the project participants. The UK Space Agency does not seek any ownership of project IP. Future ownership of any potential IPR should be dealt with as part of any Flow Down Agreement.

Question 19

19. Submission and Contact Information

Accepted Answer

Only the lead company or organisation must submit an application. Applications for project funding must be submitted to the UK Space Agency as follows:

electronically in both pdf and Word as specified in Section 2 with the exception of the finance table which will be submitted in the Excel format specified
any information that bidders do not wish to be sent to the assessors (eg, eligibility information) should be contained in a separate file, and clearly marked as such with a clear cover note.

All application documentation must be sent by email to the UK Space Agency, NSIP Major Projects at nsip@ukspaceagency.gov.uk. Please indicate in the subject line which call you are applying for.

All applicants should provide an Expression of Interest by email to the UK Space Agency by 31 October. This should include the project title, a lead contact name and a short description of the project (1 paragraph). Failure to provide an EOI by the desired date will not stop applicants submitting a proposal before the deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be found in Annex 3 and any further queries about this call can be submitted to nsip@ukspaceagency.gov.uk. Please specify which call your query relates to.

All applications must be submitted by Midday on 17 November.

It is the lead organisation’s responsibility to ensure that all required information is complete and accurately submitted before the deadline. The decision of the UK Space Agency is final. Minimal feedback can be requested with no course for appeal. Incomplete, late applications or altered templates will not be considered.

Submission requirements list:

template A Application form (in .odt/word AND pdf format)
annex 4 overheads (if applicable) 
annex 5 Finance Sheet
annex 6 Grant Applicant Checklist
annex 7 North Star Metric

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This notice was withdrawn on 23 May 2024

0.1 Call Specific Information – Major Projects Call One

0.2 Important Information to All Applicants