Notice

Call for Proposals: Feasibility Studies for UK National Microgravity Experiments

Published 9 July 2020

This notice was withdrawn on 11 August 2020

This call has now closed.

The UK Space Agency is making funding available for 6-month feasibility studies into possible UK-led experiments that could be carried out and deliver high-quality science on the International Space Station or other commercially available microgravity and space environment facilities.

This Announcement of Opportunity invites proposals for the circa £350,000 funding expected to be available. The UK Space Agency expects to fund between 2 and 4 proposals.

Studies must be completed by 31st March 2021.

1. Call Details

1.1 Call remit

This call, funded by the UK Space Agency’s Exploration Programme, aims to support UK-based researchers in assessing the feasibility of their research ideas that would utilise microgravity and the space environments, and refining their ideas and conceptual designs to enable the UK community to secure the maximum scientific and return from the UK’s investments in the European Space Agency (ESA)’s exploration programme.

Proposals are sought for studies into concepts and designs for experiments that could be carried out and deliver high-quality science on the International Space Station or other commercially available microgravity and space environment facilities.

These studies should focus on needs definition and feasibility aspects of the experiment (Phase 0 and Phase A) and could include initial parts of preliminary definition (Phase B1) (Reference ECSS-M-ST-10C Rev.1 – Project planning and implementation (6 March 2009)).

We welcome input from all research areas, and in particular projects that meet the priority research areas of UKRI or the highlighted research areas in the National Strategy for Space Environments and Human Spaceflight.

This Call is open to UK Higher Education Institutions, other research organisations (including not-for-profit organisations), SMEs and industry. Industry-industry and industry-academia collaborations are encouraged and there is no restriction on which type of organisation can lead.

Work on the studies selected will run from September 2020 through to March 2021 with all work completed by 31 March 2021.

1.2 Potential microgravity facilities

Studies should further research teams understanding of how their research could be carried out in microgravity or other space environments and the principle designs of the experiments. There are a number of different routes to orbit and facilities that could be considered by these studies. The 2 primary routes are through ESA facilities and commercial providers. Both routes can be considered.

1.3 ESA facilities

The European Space Agency operate and enable access to a number of facilities, both on the International Space Station and on Earth, where facilities such as drop towers, parabolic flights and bedrest studies provide access to space environment analogues. Call for experiments in the facilities are released occasionally, at intervals that vary depending on the facility.

The UK, through its membership of ESA, has the right to propose nationally funded experiments that could use the ISS facilities, subject to feasibility and operational availability, whilst other ground facilities can be access through ESA’s continuously open research announcement. These providers could be considered as routes for access for the research ideas furthered by the proposed studies.

• List of ESA ISS facilities
• Details of ESA enable ground access facilities

1.4 Commercial providers

There are now several companies who provide fully supported access to in-orbit and sub-orbital facilities that utilise microgravity and the space environment. There are no calls for these facilities, instead the access can be procured on an as needed basis. These providers could be considered as routes for access for the research ideas furthered by the proposed studies.

Potential commercial providers for UK researchers include (in alphabetical order):

• Bartolomeo

• BioReactor Express

• Blue Origin

• ICE Cubes

• Nanoracks
• Space Tango
• Virgin Galactic
• Yuri

Note that this list is not comprehensive.

1.5 Project outcomes

The objective of the call is to allow researchers to study and refine their experiment concepts that would utilise microgravity or the space environment. These studies should focus on needs definition and feasibility aspects of the experiment (Phase 0 and Phase A) and could include initial parts of preliminary definition (Phase B1) (Reference ECSS-M-ST-10C Rev.1 – Project planning and implementation (6 March 2009)).

As part of the conditions of the grant award, the project will be required to provide regular project updates and status reports to the UK Space Agency.

At the end of the grand period, as part of the conditions of the grant award, a final report will have to be provided. This should detail the work enabled by the grant funding and the outcomes achieved. It should include details of what the next steps to continue the development of the proposed experiment would be, the expected cost and the benefit of taking the project on past the conclusion of the funding period.

2. Application Process

2.1 Application contents

Proposals should cover:

• an overview of the work that would be enabled by the grant
• the expected outcomes of the work and their impact on the design and readiness of the potential experiment
• an overview of the key science question(s) that would be addressed by the proposed experiment, including the need for access to microgravity or other space environment provisions
• alignment of this research to current UK research priorities (e.g. Research Council roadmaps; UK Space Agency Space Environments strategy)
• justification of resources and costs proposed, including number of roles/jobs the grant will support
• any potential for outreach or other benefits to the UK

Proposals should be no longer than 8 sides. Anything longer than this will not be reviewed.

2.2 Application submission

Proposals are to be submitted to the UK Space Agency, via SpaceExploration@ukspaceagency.gov.uk, clearly marked as AO: Microgravity Experiments.

Applications close at 4pm on Monday 10 August 2020.

2.3 Assessment of applications

All proposals will be judged by a panel from the UK Space Agency and other parties. The panel will rank proposals based on the following criteria:

• Impact
• Feasibility & management
• Science excellence
• Fit to UK strategic priorities
• Value for money

3. Financial and Contractual Information

3.1 Timeline

Applications close at 4pm on Monday 10 August 2020. Reviews are expected to take place during August, with funds awarded at the end of August 2020. Studies must be completed by 31 March 2021.

3.2 Funding restrictions and State Aid

Academic partners and Government institutions will be funded in all cases at 80% of Full Economic Cost (FEC) and will be subject to standard UKRI grants terms and conditions.

Industry are required to either provide a PV contribution to eligible project costs in accordance with the guidance to the European State Aid General Block Exemption Regulations (GBER), or alternatively to claim exemption from having to make a contribution under the EU de minimis regulations.

For GBER, bidders must identify the category of work proposed, and this must be consistent with the work programme described in the technical case. Note that the type of activity and company size defines the maximum ‘Intervention’ rate (and hence the minimum required PV level) that is permitted for that activity (see Annex A), and that there are concessions for collaborative activities. Bidders will be expected to justify the category of work selected.

Bidders must ensure that they supply the correct information that allows the UK Space Agency to award grants within the scheme and it is the responsibility of the bidder to ensure compliance with the relevant State Aid legislation. Further guidance is available on the gov.uk website.

EC grants awarded on related projects or other public funding are not eligible as a PV contribution.

3.3 Treatment of VAT

This grant funding is categorised as outside the scope of VAT. The supply of ‘non-business’ research is outside the scope of VAT which is defined by the intention of the parties at the beginning of a project – UK Space Agency as the funder does not receive anything in return for the consideration paid (grant) e.g. services or transfer of IP, therefore the grant is deemed as being outside the scope of VAT.

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.

4. Data Protection

The contact details you provide will only be used for the purposes of this funding call. The UK Space Agency will not share your contact information with anyone else.  

The UK Space Agency complies with the GDPR and its Privacy Notice is available here.

The UK Space Agency will not retain your data for any longer than is necessary for administering your application and grant, should it be awarded.  

The UK Space Agency relies on Legitimate Interest as the Lawful Basis to process your contact information, you can find out more about Lawful Bases at the Information Commissioner’s website. 

5. Further Information

For further information on any aspects of this call, please contact:

Libby Jackson Human Exploration Programme Manager UK Space Agency libby.jackson@ukspaceagency.gov.uk