UK Space Agency opens £2m grant call for satellite-based environmental intelligence

The UK Space Agency opened its Unlocking Space for Business: Environmental Intelligence and Emissions grant call on 19 October 2026. Up to £2 million is available, and applicants can request up to £400,000 per project, with match funding from partners possible.

Projects must be led by a UK-registered end-user business, including SMEs, working with at least one UK supplier of space-enabled data or services, plus any integrators needed. Target sectors include financial services, insurance, energy, utilities, infrastructure, agriculture, land management and environmental services, though other sectors with a clear use case may apply.

Applications go through the Flexigrant portal and close at 16:00 GMT on 11 December 2026. Projects are expected to start in January 2027 and run for about nine months, and must show measurable outcomes by the end. A briefing webinar was held on 3 November, with a recording and FAQs now published.

Why it matters: The call shows how space agencies are funding customer-led uses of Earth observation for emissions and nature monitoring. Although open only to UK-led consortia, it signals demand and use cases that African EO and environmental analytics providers may watch.