Satellite Applications Catapult

Missions

Driving the commercial growth of the UK space sector

Silhouetted satellite dishes under a starry night sky with a faint Milky Way visible in the background.

The Catapult’s purpose is to drive the sustainable, commercial growth of the UK Space sector, positioning it as a growth engine for the whole UK economy.

To achieve this, we focus our work on three missions that capture the key opportunities and our planned impacts for the UK through to 2030.

The missions recognise the evolving opportunities encapsulated by:

  • Inclusive, converged and sustainable connectivity
  • Improved sustainability for a safe, just and thriving world
  • Increased utility and effectiveness through new innovations in autonomy
  • Opportunities to operate beyond our earth for innovative services and manufacturing, new space-based infrastructure, and greater sustainability in the space domain

Our missions are strongly aligned with the UK Government Space Strategy themes to “Grow and level-up our space economy” and “Use space to deliver for UK citizens and the world”.

Our Missions Are:

A digital rendering of Earth from space, showing glowing network connections across Asia with a bright sunrise.

Autonomous & Connected Earth

Supporting the development and adoption of technologies essential for enabling universal connectivity and coordinated autonomy.

Find Out More
A view of Earth from space at night, showing illuminated cities and a glowing atmosphere under a starry sky.

Beyond Earth

Driving the growth of the UK space sector by leveraging opportunities arising from the in-space economy.

Find Out More
Satellite view of a green river meandering through brown terrain, surrounded by scattered white clouds.

Sustainable Earth

Growing the UK space sector by increasing the integration of space data, technology, and services into non-space sectors, where doing so can make the greatest positive difference to global society.

Find Out More

Why Missions?

Adopting a mission-oriented innovation approach – as championed by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose – provides a framework for targeted innovation, through which the intended impacts, UK growth and delivery of cross-cutting policy priorities, will be achieved.

A range of interventions – programmes of work comprising highly-focused projects and services – deliver the objectives of each mission. You can discover more about our interventions and projects following the links from our dedicated missions’ pages.

Autonomous & Connected Earth

The goal of the Autonomous & Connected Earth mission is to ensure that space technologies support the UK goal of achieving the safe adoption of autonomous systems across key sectors.

We will do this by continuing our work to advance the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks that strengthen the UK national infrastructure and digital ecosystems.

Our work will support the UK to become a leader in satellite-terrestrial network integration and digital inclusion by 2035 and advance the adoption of autonomous systems across multiple sectors.

A digital rendering of Earth from space, showing glowing network connections across Asia with a bright sunrise.
Visit the Autonomous & Connected Earth Homepage

Beyond Earth

The goal of our Beyond Earth mission is to drive the growth of the UK space sector by opening new commercial opportunities arising from the in-space economy. The Catapult is helping establish the UK as a leader in the growing global ISAM market, particularly in in-space logistics, servicing, and manufacturing technology and capability.

A view of Earth from space at night, showing illuminated cities and a glowing atmosphere under a starry sky.
Visit the Beyond Earth Homepage

Sustainable Earth

The goal of the Sustainable Earth mission is to maximise the growth potential for sustainable applications for the UK, focusing on those non-space sectors that both support sustainable outcomes and where the UK is globally competitive.

We will do that by increasing the integration of space data, technology and services that monitor and measure status and change within the natural and built environments, enabling better management and mitigating of the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on the wellbeing and livelihoods of humans.

As a result, by 2030 the UK will be a leading adopter and provider of space-enabled capabilities that advance nature restoration and emissions reduction, including embedding space data in our economy and public services.

Satellite view of a green river meandering through brown terrain, surrounded by scattered white clouds.
Visit the Sustainable Earth Homepage

We continue to positively impact the growth and maturity of the UK Space sector. Our activities increase revenues and employment opportunities in the UK and enhance the market presence of UK based space businesses, helping them fulfil demand in emerging fields globally.

With support from the Catapult, the UK Space sector is already a driver of innovation and growth for other sectors of our economy. Our support for UK organisations helps position the UK as a leader in this exciting new era, bringing substantial benefits to the nation, and our planet.