Guidance

International Bilateral Fund – Call 3 Annex A – Benefits

Published 24 August 2026

Benefits realisation

Applicants are expected to deliver benefits against the UK Space Agency benefits framework, which encompasses the following strategic drivers;

1. High growth UK economy
2. International relationships
3. Innovative UK economy
4. National security
5. Benefits to citizens and public

Projects are not expected to yield benefits in every one of the strategic drivers, but the kind of indicators which may be used to demonstrate positive impact are outlined in the table below. Projects are expected to create their own metrics related to their proposed work with reasonable timelines for delivery.

Successful applicants may be required to report against these and other programme-level metrics during and after the grant period to support monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment activities.

Strategic driver	Benefit	Benefit description	Indicator
HIGH GROWTH UK ECONOMY	Increased jobs in UK space sector	The UK is able to grow the level of jobs, capabilities and skills in the UK Space Sector, leading to productivity enhancements.	- New jobs created - Jobs protected - Jobs created in supply chain and other sectors
	Increased salary growth in UK space sector		- Average space sector salary - Percentage difference between space sector average salary and national average salary
	Increased investment in UK space organisations	Through retaining and developing skills in the UK space sector, this positions companies in the UK well to secure future ESA contracts and improve the UK’s geo-return position, to ensure the UK receives almost as much as we put into ESA.	- ESA geo-return coefficient score
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS	Increased UK soft power	Developing UK skills, capabilities and a strong delivery record positions the UK to secure larger roles in future opportunities and be seen as a trusted partner of choice for high-value international work.	- UK chairs on international bodies - International attendance at UK events - UK presentations in international forums - Foreign requests for UK expertise
	Increased support for UK intentions relating to space regulations and guidance	Through having stronger roles, this enables the UK to steer the intentions of space activities to support the objectives of the UK government.	- International partnerships involving UK - International adoption of UK approaches - International best-practice agreements
	Increased action leveraged from relationships with international partners		- Follow-on international collaborations
INNOVATIVE UK ECONOMY	Improved scientific community understanding of space	Through the participation in the activities, the UK can generate scientific knowledge and understanding of our universe. In doing so, this can lead to major scientific breakthroughs which change our understanding of the Universe.	- Number of scientific publications (Earth) - Number of scientific publications (Space) - Citations linked to UKSA sponsorship - UKSA publications in top 10% Field Citation Ratio.
	Generation of new or niche space technologies	Through the development of payloads and technologies, this increases the technology maturity of UK components.	- New Space Patents Filed
NATIONAL SECURITY	Improved space security	Strengthening UK space resilience helps protect critical services, reduce disruption risks, and support national security objectives.	- Space services risk index
	Reduced risk of disruption to UK economy/way of life		- Risk awareness among stakeholders