Missions
Driving the commercial growth of the UK space sector
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 four 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”.
The missions are:
Beyond Earth
Drive a thriving, equitable and sustainable in-space economy, helping to solve grand challenges on Earth by 2030.
Read MoreAutonomous & Connected Earth
See safe, secure and performant connectivity and autonomy available everywhere and affordable by every person.
Read MoreSustainable Earth
Use space capabilities to enable safe and just outcomes for climate displaced people and their communities by 2030.
Read MoreWhy 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.
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Beyond Earth
The Beyond Earth mission will drive a thriving, equitable and sustainable in-space economy, helping to solve grand challenges on Earth by 2030.
Autonomous & Connected Earth
By 2030, our Autonomous & Connected Earth mission aims to see safe, secure and performant connectivity and autonomy available everywhere and affordable by every person.
Sustainable Earth
The Sustainable Earth mission will use space capabilities to enable safe and just outcomes for 500 million climate displaced people and their destination communities by 2030.
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.
