The UK Space Agency

Overview for CEOS

September 2012

The UK Space Agency

An executive agency of Department of Business Innovation and Skills at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space.

Reporting to Minister of Universities and Science (David Willetts)

UK Civil Space Strategy 2012-2016

Themes: •Growth through new opportunities; •Growth from export; •Innovation supporting growth; •Science to enable growth; •Education for growth; •Growth through smarter government

Twitter feed: spacegovuk

UKSA context (EO focus)

• 70% of civil space investment by UKSA and partners is channelled through ESA

• 33% increase in optional ESA funding in Ministerial in 2012, mainly comms and EO

• Harwell: Satellite Applications Catapult, facility for Climate and Environmental Monitoring from Space (CEMS), ESA ECSAT

Harwell and the wider UK space sector

Co-located universities and industry

ESA Centre

ApplicationsClimate ChangeExploration

ESA Business Incubator

RAL Space:

Including existing facilities

Harwell Space Cluster

Industry, universities and

research organisations

UKSA partners

(TSB, research councils, MoD, Met Office, )

ESA

EU space programme

International Space

Agencies

Satellite Applications

Catapult

CEMS: Centre for Environmental

Monitoring from Space

GEO and CEOS

Copernicus

Galileo

Space Growth Action PlanIndustry-led report, UK Gov will respondTarget: 10% share of space economy by 2030

Climate andenvironmentalservices is 1 of5 identified markets

UKSA co-ordination activities in area of climate services

• Expert representation at – CEOS SST Virtual

Constellation

– CEOS/CGMS WG Clim

• Secretariat funding for UK stakeholder group on “Climate Data from Space”– Industry, govt, MetO,

academia, RCUK etc

• Support ESA EO programmes, including Climate Change Initiative

UK stakeholder concern for WG Climate consideration

• UK (and others) are investing in capacity for climate data records from space, including SST– big data facilities at Harwell, ESA CCI subscription

• Loss of expertise & documentation relevant to calibration of past sensors is a danger to the ability of space-based CDRs to be credible and improvable in the long run

• Space agencies including CEOS and CGMS agencies need to take active steps to digitize and curate paper-based archives of such information– Of course, some action is taking place already, but is it sufficient and

is it co-ordinated?

UKSA EO Team: Ruth Boumphrey, Maria Adams, Alice Bunn,

Beth Greenaway, Elizabeth Seaman, Tracey Whitbread