£160m Gov Fund May Fuel Future UK 5G and Broadband Satellites

The UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) have today revealed that they’re “exploring” a new plan, which could open a £160 million fund to help develop and build the next generation of LEO satellite based broadband and 5G mobile communications.

The Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (CLEO) programme, if approved, would initially provide grant funding of up to £100 million, which could be boosted by up to an additional £60m from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) UK-backed Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme. The focus here is on delivering new types of commercial satellite communications infrastructure.

The goal of the fund would be to provide UK researchers and businesses with critical support to drive the development of new constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which among other things could help to deliver better “connectivity in remote and rural parts of UK, bridging the digital divide and levelling-up our country while growing the economy.”

This would include supporting “smarter satellites” with better hardware, using AI to make data delivery faster and connecting satellites together for improved connection – all creating interconnected networks serving billions worldwide. “The proposed scheme would ensure UK businesses are supported in developing the next generation of low Earth orbit satellites, driving the UK’s thriving satellite industry towards global leadership,” said DSIT.

Michelle Donelan, Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, said:

“Tackling the digital divide is at the heart of empowering our citizens wherever they live, and by investing in the vital research and development that CLEO would facilitate, we can level up our country while growing the economy through high-quality jobs.

This proposed record investment is also potentially a huge opportunity to harness our reputation as a world leader in innovation and R&D investment, supporting leading UK businesses to deliver the next generation of satellites and positioning the UK as true space superpower.”

The announcement doesn’t say it, but we perceive that one possible application of the new fund could be to provide further support to OneWeb, which is part owned by the UK government. The press release makes clear that “CLEO would aim to deliver the R&D needed to support the launch of hundreds of satellites into space, revolutionising the UK’s communication infrastructure and closing connectivity gaps,” which would fit into OneWeb’s plans.

OneWeb has already launched 634 of their small (c.150kg) first generation (GEN1) satellites into space – orbiting at an altitude of 1,200km above the Earth (588 of them for coverage and the rest are for redundancy). The network was technically completed in March 2023 (here), but some work (e.g. ground stations) still needs to be completed before global coverage goes live around the end of this year.

The operator also plans to launch another 1,280 satellites in the future (funds allowing), which are expected to reflect a GEN2 model that could sit in a higher Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) of 8,500km. The GEN2s are widely expected to have more data capacity, support for 5G mobile and may, possibly, introduce enhanced navigation and positioning features (something the UK government wants). The UK is already helping to fund a GEN2 prototype satellite – “Joey-Sat” (here), while also conducting several rural broadband and mobile pilots with the operator (here and here).

However, the launch of this new £160m scheme, which is one of the biggest ever for the satellite communications sector, and commitment of funding is currently still subject to standard government business case and other approvals. But the chances are good that we may learn more about this around the time of the next Spending Review or Budget announcement.