Space South Central

Overview

Space South Central is one of the largest regional space clusters in the UK. Launched in 2022, the region benefits from over 50 years of satellite and launch systems expertise, bringing together over 210 organisations. The region also employs approximately 14,000 space professionals and brings in a space income exceeding £2.8 billion, with export revenues around £1.1 billion.

With over 50 years of rich space heritage, our region boasts significant capabilities in; satellite manufacture, launch technologies, next-generation communications, robotics and autonomous systems, as well as a full range of satellite data-enabled service capabilities. Businesses like Airbus, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, In-Space Missions, Spur Electron, and SSTL are among many located in the Space South Central area.

See Space South Central’s digital brochure here.

Key Contacts

Keith Robson

Organisation: University of Surrey

Role: Chair of Advisory Board – Space South Central

Dr Louise Butt

Organisation: University of Portsmouth

Role: Director – Space South Central Enterprise Network

Daniel Smith

Organisation: University of Portsmouth

Role: Business Development Manager – Space South Central Enterprise Network

Tobias Marchant

Organisation: Northern Ireland Space

Role: International Partnership Manager – Space South Central Enterprise Network

Dr Elizabeth Clutton

Organisation: University of Portsmouth

Role: ESA UK Regional Ambassador – South East and East England

Facilities, Assets, and Academic Institutions

The Portsmouth site of Airbus Defence and Space offers a complete suite of Dynamic, Thermal, and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) test facilities. The extensive range of facilities provides customers with a ‘one stop’ test house capable of handling products from mobile phones to spacecraft payloads. Airbus DS services cover a variety of environmental simulation tests (including thermal vacuum, vibration, and shock), as well as EMC tests.

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Chilbolton Observatory hosts part of the Atmospheric Measurement and Observation Facility (AMOF), with a particular focus on state-of-the-art radar instrumentation. The site is home to the world’s largest fully steerable meteorological radar, the Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar (CAMRa).

Other facilities include:

LOFAR-UK, part of the Europe-wide LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope.
The Space Monitoring Facility, 25m antenna to track and characterize Earth orbiting satellites.
The RAL Space Satellite Ground Station which has 4.5m and 6.1m antennas at Chilbolton, in addition to further antennas at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

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Fluid Gravity Engineering (FGE) is a scientific consultancy specialising in computational physics. Their work mainly employs continuum mechanics in fields such as: fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, shock physics, reactive multiphase flow, constitutive material response, and electromagnetics. They have strong backgrounds in Physics, Mathematics, Computing and Engineering. They are unique in our theoretical and computational capabilities in problem solving for regimes that exceed the limitations of “off the shelf” computational software due to high speeds and energy densities.

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In-Space Missions Limited are world class experts who design, build and operate physical and digital customer missions, providing a valuable service to global customers keen to get their technology on orbit quickly.

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Mars Space Ltd (MSL) is a SME established in 2007 and based in Southampton, UK, providing services and consultancy on space and plasma engineering and science. The main areas of expertise lie in space propulsion, in particular electric propulsion, and space environment. Since its incorporation, MSL has been involved in a variety of R&D activities in collaboration with several commercial partners and agencies carrying out the design, manufacturing, testing and modelling of different devices and prototypes.

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A major centre of excellence in technology, science, health and engineering for all sizes of business from start-ups to multinationals.

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Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) pioneers audacious new satellite technologies, products and services and shares its know-how to enable advancement in Space. SSTL led the design, build, test and operation of small satellites and has been a world leader in the field for over 40 years.

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Partners

The Space South Central Advisory Board represent a terrific cross section of organisations from across the whole South Central region, all committed to contributing their time an effort to help translate Space South Central’s objectives into actions relevant to the region, promote strategic regional coherence, set priorities and provide direction to ensure objectives are delivered. The underlying priorities are to increase economic growth, inward investments, private financial investment and the take up of skills relevant to the space sector. The Board will also help coordinate collaborative bids for funding, particularly bids aligned with the National Space Strategy and UKSA.

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Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) — UCL’s dedicated space science arm — is the UK’s largest university space research group. Since 1966, MSSL has contributed instruments to over 35 satellite missions and 200 sounding rocket tests across astrophysics, solar-terrestrial physics, and planetary exploration.

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Portsmouth University is home to ASTA Technology, the UK’s only ESA-accredited provider of space engineering training, was the lead partner of the former South Coast Centre of Excellence for Satellite Applications and is a founding partner of Space South Central.

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Space at Southampton offers multiple facilities including: Artificial Intelligence, Spacecraft Autonomy and Control; Biomechanics lab with ultrasound and myoton scanners; Electric Propulsion Laboratory; Environmental Sensing : Field Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometer; G.T. Roberts Jet Propulsion Laboratory; IRIDIS 5 High Performance Computing System.

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The University of Surrey is internationally renowned for pioneering small satellite engineering since 1979 and hosts the Surrey Space Centre, a multidisciplinary hub with around 90 researchers innovating across mission analysis, propulsion, astrodynamics, robotics, RF communications, remote sensing, and space environment protection.

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Regional Strengths

For more detail, see the Space Capabilities Catalogue. For more information on the technical areas, see the Investor Launchpad Capability Brochures.

Engineers in a lab monitor computers and examine a satellite with solar panels and a large dish antenna.

Satellite Design and Manufacturing

Home to some of the UK’s most advanced satellite design and manufacturing capabilities, Space South Central benefits from the presence of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) – a global pioneer in small satellite innovation with more than 70 successful missions – in Guildford and Airbus Defence and Space in Portsmouth.

A satellite orbits above Earth with the sun rising over the horizon in space.

Defence and Secure Comms

Space South Central benefits from a strong defence heritage, particularly in naval technologies, cyber defence, and secure communications. With key sites in Portsmouth and Southampton, the region provides specialised capabilities in secure satellite communications, encryption technologies, and systems integration. Forn example, Airbus’s Portsmouth site produces key components for geostationary telecoms satellites and laser communication terminals.

Scientists in full protective suits working and discussing data in a high-tech laboratory cleanroom.

Testing and Qualification Infrastructure

The region offers a rich ecosystem of end-to-end spacecraft testing and qualification facilities, with players like RAL Space, Airbus, and Leonardo collectively providing advanced infrastructure for thermal vacuum testing, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), vibration testing, and optical calibration.

Current Market Focus & Opportunities

For more detail, see the Space Capabilities Catalogue.

Blue glowing lines curve over a dark digital background with scattered numbers and letters.

Next-Gen Comms & Quantum Integration

Space South Central has the potential to become a national leader in optical communications, quantum-secure networks, and high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems. The region’s strength in photonics, advanced signal processing, and secure data infrastructure could underpin future constellations of satellites delivering ultra-fast, resilient communication solutions. Applications extend across defence, maritime, aerospace, and critical infrastructure sectors.

Advanced Materials and Payload Engineering

With a growing global demand for compact, high-performance satellite payloads, the region has a competitive advantage in payload miniaturisation, lightweight composite materials, and integrated electronics. This creates an opportunity for the region to grow its vertical supply chains around advanced manufacturing, photonics, and materials science.

Satellite view of a winding green river, land, and clouds next to a dark blue ocean.

Downstream Growth

Space South Central is poised to capitalise on its coastal geography, strong digital economy, and environmental research assets to expand downstream space applications. There is untapped potential in maritime intelligence, coastal monitoring, smart ports, and climate risk analysis – sectors that can benefit from high-resolution Earth observation, AI-enabled data processing, and integration of space-derived data into local decision-making systems.