UK Space Agency: SatelLife Competition 2020

Chris Skidmore Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2020 Written Statements

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Chris Skidmore)]

The UK Space Agency is offering young people expert advice and the chance to connect with space industry representatives, potential investors and commercial partners, as well as a share of £50,000 for their ideas of how satellites could improve life on Earth.

Satellite services such as navigation, communications and earth observation support industrial sectors worth £300 billion to the UK economy. This competition gives young people the chance to test new ideas with space experts and perhaps one day become part of the UK space sector, which already supports 42,000 jobs and could create thousands more this decade.

By supporting the UK’s next generation of scientists and engineers, the competition will help turn young people’s ideas into real-world proposals that could eventually transform our lives—from saving our planet from climate change, to improving healthcare services.

Anyone aged between 11 and 22 years old has until 3 March 2020 to enter the competition through the UK Space Agency’s website. The winners will go on to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry experts, with the opportunity to gain further advice and support.

The Government are committed to establishing a National Space Council and developing a UK space strategy, while establishing commercial spaceflight from UK spaceports for the first time, to help the UK lead the way in this fast-growing, high-technology sector. It is my own personal ambition to ensure the sector has a bright future, and I would encourage all young people who are fascinated by space to enter the SatelLife competition and to play a key part in the second space age.

[HCWS39]