Guidance

Expression of Interest: Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund - Call 2

Published 21 July 2026

The UK Space Agency is pleased to invite Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the next round of the Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund, a major investment programme designed to strengthen the UK’s space sector through research and development infrastructure which will drive economic growth throughout every part of the UK.  

The expression of interest is open for five weeks commencing 20 July 2026, ahead of a competitive funding process later this year.  

Building on the success of the SCIF Pilot programme, which supported 13 projects across the UK, the next round of SCIF will issue at least £37 million in grant funding for infrastructure projects that help grow the UK’s space capabilities, unlock investment, create high-value jobs, scale businesses, strengthen supply chains and enable technologies to progress from development through to commercial deployment.  

Underpinned by the space cluster network, the programme ensures that the collaboration between academia, industry, investors and local government delivers local economic prosperity and supports national security ambitions.  

The programme will run from 2026 through to 2030. Programme monitoring and evaluation criteria will be published alongside the full funding call.  

Objectives

Objective 1: Build: Build Sovereign and Scale-Up Capabilities. 

(weighting – 40%)

Deliver strategic investments in UK space research and development infrastructure, supporting companies to grow by reducing technical and business risks associated with infrastructure investments. Investment opportunities may include testing, validation, manufacturing, scale-up, supply chain and other enabling capabilities needed to move technologies towards commercial deployment or mission use.

Investments will be aligned to one or more of the UK Government’s priority subsectors i.e. Satellite Communications (Satcom), In-orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacture (ISAM), Launch, Space Domain Awareness (SDA), Earth Observation (EO) & data architecture, Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT), Space science & Exploration, space products with application to defence and national security markets to increase the resilience of the UK’s space sector.

Objective 2: - Grow: Catalyse investment to drive local economic growth.

(weighting – 40%)

Catalyse sustainable growth across the UK space sector ecosystem by investing in infrastructure that builds on regional strengths and capabilities, aligns to national strategic priorities, growing local space economies and delivering economic impact nationwide.

The programme will direct at least 65% of funding outside the Greater South East, subject to proposals meeting the quality threshold, helping to grow capabilities and opportunities across the UK.

Objective 3 - Connect: Assemble Space Sector Partnerships to Maximise Impact. 

(weighting – 20%)

Projects will be expected to deliver an element of social value within the space sector ecosystem. This value might be demonstrated by improving the accessibility to space infrastructure by bringing together businesses, academia, clusters, local talent pipelines, investors, and infrastructure facilities throughout the UK. Projects could achieve this by promoting cross-organisation or cross cluster collaborations, linking projects to local clusters and national initiatives to maximise impact.

Projects could inspire future talent and generate lasting benefits by delivering tangible social value to the communities in which they are located by creating opportunities for skills development, education, outreach, and community engagement.

Why submit an Expression of Interest (EOI)?

The EOI is a light-touch, non-competitive stage designed to help applicants shape strong proposals ahead of a formal competitive process later in this financial year. We expect the formal competition to be launched in Autumn 2026 (see table below).

The EOI will provide the UK Space Agency with an early understanding of project concepts, funding requirements, partnerships, and regional opportunities, while helping to identify areas where projects may benefit from collaboration or wider ecosystem support.

Companies and consortia can benefit from support from their local space cluster as part of the EOI process. Space Cluster Managers can help identify opportunities for collaboration and strengthen proposals ahead of the outline proposal stage. Each Space Cluster Manager is bound by confidentiality clauses as part of their grant agreement and are a valuable resource for any bidder. Companies or consortia that wish to opt in to this engagement may do so in the EOI form.

Details of the UK Space Cluster Network can be found in the FAQ document.

Note that a submission to the Expression of Interest process is not mandatory in order to submit an outline proposal and no advantage will be conveyed to a company or consortium that submits an EOI over another in the final competition.

Expected Timeline

Following review and feedback on EOI submissions, we aim to launch the formal call in September, beginning with an outline proposal stage. Outline proposals will be assessed by a panel of internal and independent assessors, following which a number of proposals will be down selected for progression to the full proposal stage, with a target date in October 2026.

Full proposals will also be assessed by experts drawn from a pool of internal and external assessors, with the aim to award grants in early 2027. The table below summarises key target dates. Note that these are subject to change based on the number of bids received and should be considered indicative and not binding.

Expression of Interest	20 July – 12:00 pm, 21 August
Outline Proposals	From September 2026
Invited Full Proposals	From October 2026
Grants Awarded	From February 2027