Notice

NSIP International - Call for Proposals Sep 2020

Published 1 October 2020

0.1 Purpose

The National Space Innovation Programme - NSIP - is the UK Space Agency’s new programme established to support the development of innovation in the UK’s space sector. The international component of the NSIP will support collaborative projects between UK organisations and international partners. The objectives of this NSIP International call are to:

• Raise the UK space sector’s exporting potential, particularly in light of the economic impact from the Covid-19 crisis, as well as attracting and identifying foreign investment.
• Support UK space researchers and scientists in carrying out frontier scientific collaborations in partnership with colleagues around the world that complement our existing activities through ESA’s Science Programme.
• Enable the UK to develop key space technologies, products and services as well as know-how in important emerging technologies, including those with important links to our national security, by working with our closest allies where they have existing skills.

Funding granted to the NSIP for the current financial year is for a “pathfinder programme” which, in addition to the objectives set out above, will develop the institutional capabilities and processes, as well as the deepened relationships with international partners necessary to enable the success of a potential larger, multi-year international programme in the future.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is now inviting applications for grant funding from organisations that are interested in conducting collaborative projects with our international partners in the areas set out in Section 3 below. These are the themes selected for the FY 20/21 pathfinder year of the programme, and we anticipate expanding the number of programme themes in future years. We expect projects to span a wide range of technologies and disciplines, and to enhance UK science, security, and trade through international collaboration. Depending on the quality of bids received we may fund projects across all, or only some of the themes set out in section 3.

0.2 Strategic context for NSIP International

The Government’s ambition is to grow the UK’s share of the global space market to 10% by 2030. To achieve this, the sector will need to quickly seize the most significant growth opportunities in current and emerging markets. In addition, the Government has set out the Research and Development roadmap to position the UK as a science superpower, including by boosting international collaboration to ensure the UK benefits from global scientific partnerships. The Government further announced the creation of a new National Space council to provide strategic leadership on space across government, coordinating all aspects of the UK’s space strategy.

We are now inviting bids for collaborative projects with our international partners in the themes set out below that will contribute to UK science, security and prosperity, as well has enhancing our global relationships and positioning the UK to effectively take advantage of future opportunities for international collaboration.

0.3 Invitation to submit grant proposals

In this pathfinder funding call, the UK Space Agency is inviting UK organisations to submit project proposals involving collaboration with organisations in the countries listed in the table below in the respective technology/discipline. Where “Global” is indicated we are open to proposals involving collaboration with organisations in any country (or countries), subject to the criteria set out in section 4 of this document.

Partner Country	Technology/Discipline
Australia	Earth observation
Japan	Satellite applications
Canada	Robotics
Global	Space safety and sustainability, including space debris
Global	Space science
France	Earth observation and climate
India	Earth observation and climate AND/OR sustainable development
UAE	Disaster relief

More detail about each theme follows:

Australia – Earth Observation

• The UK has world-leading satellite Earth observation capability, from developing and building missions to managing and exploiting data and creating trusted applications and services for use in the wider economy.
• Proposals are welcomed for collaborative projects with organisations in Australia using Earth Observation to tackle national challenges such as wildfire mitigation, monitoring, and response.

Japan – Satellite Applications

• The UK holds a world leading position in exploiting the downstream space sector. Japan shares many similar national challenges that could drive new partnership solutions.
• Proposals are welcomed that offer innovative solution using downstream data in areas such as healthcare, marine and finance.

Canada – Robotics

• Robotics is an important and growing contributor to the UK economy and increasingly important to the global space sector both strategically and economically. On-orbit servicing using robotics is expected to play a major disruptive role in the global space sector. *Proposals could include, but are not limited to collaborations with organisations in Canada to advance early research into the use of robotics for on-orbit servicing, or studies into future commercial models for in-space robotics.

Global - Space Safety and Sustainability, including Space Debris

• The International Space Station and other satellites are facing an increasing risk of orbital collisions with space debris at a time when we are increasing our investment in space. In January 2020 two disused satellites passed within 18m of each other over the US, whilst in late 2019 the European Space Agency had to rapidly change the course of a climate instrument 300km above the earth to avoid a SpaceX satellite.
• The UK has the opportunity to work with international partners to clean up space debris, reducing such risks and growing our space sector. This can build on the UK’s strengths in robotics by building new spacecraft to remove, repair or extend the life of satellites in space, or working with partners to track space debris. This has significant future commercial potential, with the market for global market for debris removal and in-orbit servicing missions estimated to be worth over £2bn over the next 15 years.
• Proposals could include but are not limited to: Research and Development into robotics technologies that could be deployed to mitigate space debris or studies evaluating new technology concepts.
  Global – Space Science
• The UK has world-leading expertise in many areas of space science, furthermore, the UK is frequently recognised by other space-faring nations as the trusted partner of choice, with UK R&D teams being selected in open competition or invited directly to collaborate with e.g. NASA and JAXA.
• Proposals could include but are not limited to: international studies to kick off projects, in which UK would participate to shape the programme to build on UK strengths and priorities, or support for the development of instruments by UK universities/companies for integration into missions led by international partner space agencies.

France – Earth Observation and Climate

• In 2019 the UK became the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050 and therefore end the UK’s contribution to climate change. Earth observation is improving our understanding and helping us tackle the challenges facing our planet, in-cluding climate change, and it is becoming an increasingly important tool in achieving sustainable development goals.

• Proposals are welcomed for collaborative projects with organisations in France using Earth Observation to tackle climate change and/or respond to the challenges posed by our changing climate.

India – Earth Observation and Climate AND/OR Sustainable Development

Earth Observation and Climate

• The UK’s capability to develop Earth Observation instruments/apps to mitigate the effects of Climate are world renowned. With Climate change being a particular focus for Prime Minister Modi, and with the upcoming UN Climate change Conference being held in Scotland, there is considerable scope to collaborate on a project to mitigate the issues of climate change in India using Earth Observation data etc
• Proposals are welcomed for collaborative projects with organisations in India using Earth Observation to tackle climate change and/or respond to the challenges posed by our changing climate.

Sustainable Development using Satellite Applications

• The UK is a world leader in the development of Satellite applications. India, after China, has the largest potential market and need for apps focused on sustainable development. Proposals could include, but are not limited to collaborations focused on urban development or traffic management.

UAE – Disaster Relief

• Proposals could include, but are not limited to, the provision of satellite and GI services for crisis and disaster management. This would support those involved in crisis, disaster management, emergency response and humanitarian relief.

0.4 Mandatory requirements

All applicants must note the following mandatory requirements:

• Proposals must be for an activity to be led/conducted by a UK organisation. This may be in collaboration with international partners, and/or form part of a wider project or programme led by an international partner.
• Proposals must substantially involve international collaboration. This may include a project led by a UK organisation integrating international partners, a UK organisation supplying a contribution to a project led by an international partner, or a study/scoping exercise by a UK organisation exploring international collaboration.
• Proposal must be within one of the themes and applicable country as described in Section 3, any other proposals will not be considered within this funding call.
• Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of successfully meeting the aims of the opportunity.
• Proposals must include consideration of the commercial, operational, or scientific viability of the proposed project.
• Proposals must demonstrate that the investment sought from the UK Government represents clear value for the UK public, through measurable benefits to UK prosperity, security and/or science.
• All projects will need to demonstrate that they have an effective structure in place for managing the administration of the grant requested and demonstrate that they have a sound approach to planning to achieve their programme aims on time and within budget.
• As part of the application for funding, applicants must review and accept the terms of the UK Space Agency’s published grant agreement. Only minor amendments will be considered. This will enable projects to start soon after evaluation and proposal selection has been completed.

Applicants are also to note the following considerations at to what is considered to be in and out of scope in this funding call:

Proposals welcomed that:

• Projects that may be high risk but have the potential for high returns
• Projects that will deliver a tangible step-change in the UK’s capabilities in the space sector
• Projects that include UK participation in a programme/project led by an international partner
• Projects that would enable new/expanded collaboration between UK academia and international colleagues
• Projects that would develop capabilities or knowledge that would contribute to UK security interests
• Projects that would create or improve exporting opportunities for the UK space sector
• Projects that would improve the UK’s strategic relationship with a key international partner(s)
• Establish a new innovative technology, product or service and/or new IP within the UK sector

We are not funding:

• Projects that would result in only incremental developments in technologies, products, or services
• Projects that would substantially duplicate activities carried out in respect of the UK by the European Space Agency (ESA)
• Projects where international collaboration provides no significant ad-vantage compared to a UK-only approach
• Projects where the UK does not have the industrial/academic capability to supply an internationally competitive contribution
• Projects where the proposed international collaboration could present security or reputational risks to HM Government

0.5 Organisation eligibility

There are a series of requirements for eligibility to receive grant funding:

• Grant Recipients must demonstrate the ability to effectively manage a project
• Grant Recipients must have a UK bank account and all grant payments will be made in UK sterling (as per grant funding agreement)
• All project members must have in place and provide evidence of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies
• All project members must provide evidence of a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest
• All project members must be able to provide evidence that they are GDPR compliant
• Projects cannot work in areas that are in active conflict and any travel to overseas must comply with FCDO recommendations
• Projects must pass due diligence checks on company viability (financial standing assessment, governance, conflicts of interest, technical expertise)
• Formal teaming, or equivalent agreements between project partners must be in place within 60 days of grant signature
• Projects must comply with the rules stated in this guidance document

0.6 Funding

It is expected that the UKSA grant amount per project will lie between £250,000 and £2,500,000 for project deliverables in FY 20/21. UKSA reserves the right to also consider proposals that may be above the maximum amount stated.

Following the evaluation process, only the highest-ranking applications that sit within the Agency’s overarching funding and affordability envelope will be funded. All projects must complete their FY 20/21 milestones before the end of March 2021.

All projects must include match-funding from the applicant and project partners. The size of match-funding will differ depending on the activity completed and the size or type of organisation involved in the proposal. Further detail on the level of match-funding required and the maximum UKSA contribution can be found in Section 7 of this call document and Annex A.

Financial checks will be undertaken, and all grant recipients are expected to demonstrate sound financial and programme management procedures.

Grant payments will be made following successful completion of applicable milestones and will be made to the Prime organisation only. Milestone completion criteria will be agreed, linked to each milestone deliverable, with evidence required to demonstrate that each milestone has been completed successfully and costs have been expended in accordance with the principles set out in this document.

Each project selected for grant funding will also be required to provide brief monthly updates on the project progress using a template provided by the UK Space Agency.

0.7 State Aid

Funding will be considered via the General Block Exemption regulation. For a further explanation of state aid see Annex A

General Block Exemption Regulation

The Government has published guidance on the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) which covers a range of pre-approved types of state aid that do not require individual approval from the European Commission, or prior notification to the European Commission, in advance of being granted. We will only consider requests for funding which comply with the research, development and innovation exemption (Section 4) provided for in GBER. Further guidance is enclosed in Annex A, whilst a full guide is available at this website. In their application, organisations should describe how their proposal complies with one of the available exemptions under the research, development and innovation GBER. Organisations may rely on more than one exemption.

Organisations seeking funding will be required to provide a clear indication in their application of how their proposal is compliant with the state aid exemption criteria

0.8 Mandatory eligibility and scope

After the deadline for application submission, valid applications will be sent for assessment. Only applications that meet the following mandatory eligibility criteria and scope of the call will be sent for assessment:

• Alignment with the aims of the ‘Purpose’ of this call for project proposals;
• Alignment with State Aid regulations as detailed in Annex A;
• Alignment with page counts and information requested in the Application Form as detailed in Annex B;
• Evidence of the requirements as set out in this call document have been met;
• Acceptance of the terms and conditions of the UK Space Agency’s published grant agreement (Annex F) – requests for minor amendments only will be considered.

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to declare a project proposal as out of scope or incomplete.

0.9 Evaluation Criteria

Applications that meet the mandatory criteria above will be assessed by an independent advisory panel. This panel will consist of independent UK Space Agency approved reviewers drawn from academia, industry or government. This panel will assess the proposals according to a scoring system on a set number of criteria. Proposals will be assessed against a range of criteria, with criteria weighted to reflect their relative importance to the final score. A detailed copy of the scoring system and weighting can be found in Annex C. The criteria to be assessed will include:

• Management and planning
• Benefit to the UK
• International collaboration

Assessors will provide scores for each question in the application. All applications are assessed on individual merit. The UK Space Agency will make the final decision regarding funding, using the panel’s recommendations and wider relevant legal, policy and financial considerations. The UK Space Agency will also take into account the available budget for the FY 20/21, the value for money of the proposal, and the requested amounts of funding for each project in the subsequent financial years. The UK Space Agency will also be seeking to establish a balanced portfolio of projects across the space sector and academic community.

To aid our consideration, Annex B provides guidance for a proposal and sets out the minimum information that all submissions must include.

When considering applications to take forward, the UK Space Agency will look to progress the highest ranking proposals from across all themes, and therefore not all themes are guaranteed to be allocated funding through this funding call. In addition, the UK Space Agency will take into account the balance of projects across the themes when selecting projects to progress.

0.10 Application schedule

The below table outlines the expected timetable for this call for grant funding. This call opened on 28 September 2020 and will close at 12 noon (UK time) on 29 October 2020. UKSA aims to notify all bidders of the results of their bid during November.

• Funding call opens: 28 September 2020
• Deadline for submission of applicant questions: 12 October 2020 at 12 noon UK time
• Deadline for submission of proposals: 29 October 2020 at 12 noon UK time
• Notification of outcomes: November
• Due diligence on down-selected proposals: November
• Grants to be signed by: December

All projects must complete their milestones before the end of 31 March 2021.

Any questions about this funding opportunity should be submitted to the following email address [email protected], questions submitted to any other UKSA email address may not be considered. The final deadline for any questions is 12 October to enable all potential applicants to consider answers provided. A live Q&A log will be maintained and hosted on the UK Space Agency web page alongside the call documentation.

0.11 Confidentiality

The procedure for handling and assessing the bids and notifications will be as follows:

• Final proposals must be submitted to the UK Space Agency International Policy team, using the email [email protected]. Applications submitted to any other UK Space Agency email address may not be considered.
• All proposals and notifications will be held in confidence by the UK Space Agency, except to be shared with evaluation panellists.
• Information relating to the proposals may also be shared with other UK government departments, agencies and arm’s length bodies.
• Summary information on all successful proposals who receive grant funding will be made public, including the summary of the proposal (from Section 2 of the Application Form) and the identities of organisations involved.
• For those bids not recommended by the panel for funding, documentation will be retained by the UK Space Agency for reference. The proposals will not be visible to any others, and the names of any unsuccessful bidders will not be published.
• Following completion of the down-selection of projects, UK Space Agency may contact applicants as part of its review of the programme.
• All other documentation relating to bids selected for funding will remain confidential within the UK government.

Information submitted as part of a proposal, or subsequent commercially sensitive information submitted as part of the grant agreement, will not be disclosed by us save for in so far as we consider necessary, in our absolute discretion, to comply with our legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or any other legal act, requirement or obligation. Where permitted by law we will attempt to notify you of any such disclosure.

0.12 Finance policy

All partners must use a separate, project-specific, bank account or project accounting code for project funds to enable a clear audit trail.

Cost recovery - The funds from Grant funding are on a cost recovery basis only. Grants are solely intended to cover the cost of delivering the agreed activity or goal. Any surplus funds not spent will be lost to the project unless there are alternative arrangements agreed.

Grantees cannot receive any funding from other grants/contracts to undertake the same activities.

Grant funding cannot be rolled over between financial years without explicit consent from UK Space Agency.

Invoices – UKSA will only pay on actuals. Should actual costs incurred be greater than the value of the milestone value, these costs will be borne by the Grant Recipient, unless the additional expenditure has been agreed with the UK Space Agency ahead of the costs being incurred and a Grant Change Notice (GCN) executed.

Staff costs must be calculated on a cost recovery basis only and be broken down by pay costs and overheads separately.

Pay costs are calculated based on your PAYE records. They should include gross salary, employer National Insurance (NI) contributions and employer pension contributions. Pay costs must not include:

• Any profit margins
• Commercial charge-out rates
• Allowances for bonuses and benefits in kind
• Business development
• Travel & Subsistence

These pay rates will be subject to checks during the negotiation stage by internal or external teams to ensure that day rates reflect actual costs. High payroll costs will be challenged and evidence (such as pay slips, etc.) must be provided to justify that the rate is on a cost recovery basis only.

When making grant claims against labour costs, actual costs claimed must be supported with timesheets of those individuals who have worked on the project.

In the budget breakdown, you are asked to provide a pay cost per day. Using actual gross monthly payroll costs, please assume 260 working days in the year, less annual leave and public holiday entitlements.

Overheads for the project are costs incurred that are additional to normal functions and incurred as a result of the project. The overheads should be stated separately from the pay costs and in this funding call, bidders are to note that:

The 20% overhead rate includes both direct and indirect costs and should be recorded in the appropriate overhead section. The overheads relating to contingent workforce / consultants should be included within their daily rate, and not included in either the calculation of the 20% overhead allowance or charged to it. Selecting this 20% overhead option allows UKSA to review and process a grant application much faster as no further documentation is needed from you.

By exception, if you consider that your overheads cannot be accommodated within the 20% rate and would like UKSA to consider an alternative level, you may submit a detailed breakdown of your proposed direct and indirect costs using the ‘Overheads breakdown’ tab in the budget template (Annex E). Please note the following:

• Overheads should be stated separately from the pay costs and their constituent elements identified and recorded by work package in the budget breakdown spread-sheet.
• All costs need to be compliant with conditions set out within the GBER Article applicable to your proposal.
• In considering the value for money of your proposal, UKSA will take into account the full costs of the activity including overheads.
• Once the overhead recovery rate has been approved, it cannot be exceeded unless agreed as part of a grant change notice.

The principles set out above also apply to project partners (not sub-contractors) and grant recipients will be required to provide assurance that their project partners are compliant with the funding principles.

Contingent workforce is a labour pool whose members are hired by an organisation on an on-demand basis. A contingent workforce consists of freelancers, independent contractors and consultants who are not on the company’s payroll because they are not full-time employees of the organisation.

The budget should be structured showing consultant day rates and number of days worked. This information will be accessible to assessors and the day rate will be assessed on value for money.

VAT Rules - Grant funding is outside the scope of VAT so you cannot charge output VAT on top of your submitted costs. If you incur non-recoverable input VAT costs, you cannot pass this on to the UK Space Agency.

All applicants are required to complete the budget template (Annex E) for their proposed milestones and work packages for FY 20/21. An outline of the proposed milestones, deliverables and costs for subsequent FYs to March 2023 is to be included Section 9 of the Application Form (Annex D).

0.13 Ineligible Expenditure

The following costs are ineligible: 

• Payment that supports for lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action
• Using grant funding to petition for additional funding
• Input VAT reclaimable by the Grant Recipient from HMRC 
• Payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature 
• Goods or services that the Grant Recipient has a statutory duty to provide 
• Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants 
• Contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money) 
• Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets owned by the Grant Recipient
• The acquisition or improvement of fixed assets by the Grant Recipient (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the Grant Offer Letter)
• Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
• Gifts to individuals 
• Entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations) 
• Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties; or liabilities incurred before the issue of this funding agreement unless agreed in writing by UK Space Agency
• Employee paid benefits and bonuses
• Alcohol

0.14 Travel and Subsistence

The following outlines the guidelines for travel and subsistence costs. Value for money must always be considered. If for any reason the set limits cannot be adhered to (e.g. to accommodate a reasonable adjustment), you must seek prior written approval from UK Space Agency. No claims for alcohol will be accepted. UK Space Agency reserves the right to not settle claims which have breached these guidelines. All expenditure must be supported by actual, itemised receipts. Limits:

• Accommodation: £140 per night
• Breakfast: £5
• Lunch: £5
• Dinner: £15

Travel:

• All travel claimed must be using Economy rates.
• Tolls, Ferry Costs, Parking and congestion charge: Receipted costs for ferries, and tolls bridges and roads unavoidably incurred during your business journey may be claimed. Reasonable parking charges may be claimed. Receipted congestion charges unavoidably incurred on your business journey may be claimed.

0.15 The Grant Funding Agreement

The grant funding agreement template is included as a separate document (Annex F). Applicants must sign up to the terms as set out in the grant funding agreement.

No material changes to the terms will be considered. Minor changes may be considered if an applicant can demonstrate that agreeing to the provision within the Grant Funding Agreement would result in the applicant breaching its statutory or regulatory obligations.

Grants agreements must be signed by a Chief Finance Officer or someone with appropriate delegated authority. All organisations in receipt of grant funding must abide by the UK government Code of Conduct for Grant Recipients.

0.16 Annual Audit of Project Costs

For Grant awards of £250,000 and over, projects will be subject to an external annual audit to ensure that costs claimed from the grant funding have been expensed on agreed project related expenditure and comply to UK Space Agency grant funding policies (e.g. match funding). The auditor will be appointed by UK Space Agency. All subcontractors and partners must provide access to project relevant expenditure. Therefore, Grant Recipients must maintain, and be able to provide upon request, any supporting evidenced as deemed necessary, such as:

• Timesheets (prime and, where applicable, partners)
• Staff costs (contractors)
• All receipts (including T&S)
• All partner and subcontractor invoices
• Breakdown of overhead costs
• Breakdown of capital usage (e.g. licence, data costs etc)

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to conduct ad-hoc audits throughout the life of the project.

0.17 Due Diligence

UKSA will carry out due diligence on grant applications as required using internal and, where necessary, external subject matter experts. The scope and degree of due diligence will be determined by the value, nature and complexity of the grant scheme. All applications will be subject to basic checks such as credit reports and Companies House checks.

Additional pre-award due diligence may include, but is not limited to:

• Technical assessment of the proposed project: including technical viability and sustainability;
• Financial assessment: organisation financial standing/health, assessment of project costs, aid intensity values and match funding contributions;
• Economic impact / value for money assessment
• Commercial: viability and / or commercial sustainability of the proposed solution, market position, demand and / or interest in technology, terms of the grant funding agreement; and / or
• Programmatic: alignment to aims and objectives of the programme, programme plan which demonstrates the project can be delivered within the funding period and the critical path, risks and issues, details on project partners and / or subcontractors.

Post-award due diligence may include, but if not limited to:

• Technical assessment of milestone deliverables against acceptance criteria to allow milestone payments to be released;
• Financial: assessment of expenditure for each milestone payment and reporting on planned costs, follow up review of financial standing/health if it is a multi-year project
• Commercial: change management including any variations to time, cost, scope, or Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) terms; review of milestone deliverables as required;
• Programmatic: project progress and impacts of any delays, risk assessment and mitigation activity; and
• End of project review: Has the technical and economic value been realised? Lessons learned and continuous improvement.
• For Grants of £250,000 and over, UKSA commissioned and funded financial audit of Grant Recipient, and if applicable project partner, costs.

Grant Applicants who opt to work with project partners, companies involved in delivery of the project under a flow down agreement rather than a subcontractor, will assume all responsibility for partner due diligence.

Applicants will need to demonstrate they have carried out a sufficient level of due diligence with regard to their proposed project partners and subcontractors. Applicants will need to demonstrate they have carried out minimum checks at proposal stage, which may require further scrutiny if the proposal is to be funded.

To meet this requirement, applicants can provide evidence of due diligence carried out supported by the resulting information or submit a partner reasonable assurance statement. The evidence should be consistent with the checks that we would conduct on our Grant Recipients, for examples, financial standing, technical ability and scrutiny of the breakdown of costs. Any costs associated with project partner due diligence is considered a bidding cost and is to be borne by the applicant.

Applicants must provide evidence that they, and project partners have in place of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption internal policies, and a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest.

0.18 Other

For the avoidance of doubt, the issue of this Announcement of Opportunity is not a commitment by the UK Space Agency to take forward or support any application. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to an offer of support and acceptance thereof is a matter solely for the commercial judgement of your company, and the Government will not be held liable for any costs incurred by participants in connection with the application process. For the avoidance of doubt, the UKSA will be under no obligation to continue to provide funding beyond the terms of any resulting grant award, nor purchase or promote use of any resulting IP or product developed using grant funding.

The UK Space Agency will monitor any funded projects through regular project reports (usually monthly) and updates, with payment milestones accompanied by a series of formal reviews. A reporting format will be provided to successful applicants. As UK Space Agency will use the meetings and reports to monitor project progress, in certain circumstances more meetings than stated may be required.

The UK Space Agency reserves the right in its absolute discretion to:

• waive or change the requirements of this Announcement of Opportunity from time to time through a formal amendment, initiated by the Agency;
• seek clarification in respect of a participant’s proposal;
• disqualify any participant that does not submit a compliant proposal in accordance with the instructions in this Announcement of Opportunity.
• disqualify any applicant that is guilty of misrepresentation in relation to its proposal or the proposal process;
• withdraw this Announcement of Opportunity at any time, or to re-invite proposals on the same or any alternative basis;
• disqualify applicants where support may conflict with the government’s foreign policy and international commitments or may pose a threat to national security;
• choose not to support any proposal as a result of the proposal review process

It is the responsibility of the lead organisation (the Prime) to ensure that all of the required information is provided in the correct format before the submission deadline.

Incomplete and/or late applications will not be eligible for review. This funding call closes at 12 noon UK on 29 October.