To help nurture the space industry through business incubation support, the UK Space Agency has pledged funding to incubation hubs in the East Midlands, northern England and North Wales.

The funding was granted to three hubs in the East Midlands including Loughborough University. It will support start-up companies across the space sector by providing them with access to a range facilities and resources.

In assisting entrepreneurs to develop their own small businesses, the space sector hopes to realise its ambition to achieve a 10% share of the global space market by 2030.

Announced at a Northern Space Consortium event in Liverpool, politicians business leaders in the region were introduced to the opportunities and potential of the highly lucrative UK space industry.

Colin Baldwin, UK Space Gateway Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency, said:

“North England, the Midlands and north Wales all have the potential to make a significant contribution to our thriving space sector. Within the east Midlands there are opportunities for a range of companies developing innovative products that can match the needs of the space industry, building upon existing strengths in space hardware, Earth observation and global navigation systems. We’re committed to nurturing business and research in these regions, and showing small businesses how they can benefit from our £11.8 billion space industry.”