The Government’s Industrial Strategy set out ambitions
to work with industry and academia to grow the UK space
sector.
The Universities of Leicester, Southampton, Surrey,
Edinburgh and the Open University, which together form
the Space Research and Innovation Network for
Technology (SPRINT), have received the £4.8 million
Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) grant. This will
support small and medium-sized businesses to engage
with these Higher Education institutions, providing
them with unprecedented access to university expertise
and facilities.
The UK Space Agency is one of the partners involved in
SPRINT, along with the Satellite Applications Catapult,
Seraphim, SSTL and the Science and Technology
Facilities Council.
Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space
Agency said:
Our growing space sector depends on the success of
technology and expertise that comes from the
world-class research carried out in the UK.
The UK Space Agency is working hard to ensure the
benefits of space are felt across the whole of the
country, as part of the Government’s Industrial
Strategy. The SPRINT programme has our full support –
it will help smaller businesses tap into the
world-class knowledge of some of the UK’s leading
universities, giving them a real boost and creating
new jobs.
Research England’s funding of SPRINT will act as a
catalyst to transform the ways that universities and
broader partners collaborate and share best practice in
how they work with businesses. The programme will boost
economic growth, jobs and prosperity across the UK by
delivering market-led solutions to the space and space
enabled economy.
The SPRINT funding is part of an investment of £67
million through Research England’s Connecting
Capability Fund (CCF) in new collaborative projects,
between universities and other partners, to drive
forward world-class university commercialisation across
the country.
David Sweeney, Executive Chair of Research England,
said:
These projects demonstrate the commitment of
universities to work together to strengthen the
R&D and technological capabilities of the UK,
building upon our successful Higher Education
Innovation Fund (HEIF). In the Industrial Strategy,
the Government asked us to improve our ability to
turn exciting ideas into commercial products and
services. Universities have stepped forward in these
projects to show that they can do world class
commercialisation, alongside world class science.
I believe these projects present important
innovations that should inform our strategic approach
to commercialisation in UK Research and Innovation
for the future.
