The UK Space Agency has concluded its latest Climate Services Call, supporting six pioneering projects with a combined investment of £380,000 to accelerate the growth of the UK’s climate services sector.
This funding backs innovative, precommercial ideas that use cutting-edge satellite data to tackle climate challenges.
As demand for trusted, data-driven climate solutions rapidly expands, the UK is positioning itself at the forefront of a global high-growth market.
World Leading Climate Services Economy
The UK Space Agency’s investment is part of a long-term commitment to strengthening the domestic Earth observation sector. By helping organisations turn innovative concepts into market ready services, the Climate Services Call supports the aims of the Net Zero Strategy and the National Space Strategy by supporting Economic Growth and providing the tools to support national resilience.
Investing in Innovation to Drive Economic Growth
These investments help create new intellectual property, stimulate private capital, and support high skilled jobs in one of the UK’s fastest growing technology ecosystems.
Each of the six projects demonstrates how satellite derived information can enable new commercial models and open up emerging markets:
- New Gradient is solving the issue of expensive and slow manual field surveys of woodland by developing a foundational AI model that can be fine-tuned to specific tasks, such as tree counting and species identification. The model will be integrated with an existing peatland-survey platform, Calterra, leading to a commercial product.
- TreeStock has combined satellite and UAV-based remote sensing with AI to generate unprecedented individual tree-level digital twins of entire forest ecosystems, enabling tree-by-tree inventory at a scale and resolution not previously achievable in woodland management.
- Treeconomy have developed a pioneering approach to quantifying and reducing uncertainty in estimating biomass via earth observation. Their new models are supporting vital trust and transparency in forest monitoring and nature-based carbon credit markets.
- Amelia Space Technologies has developed a geospatial AI platform that enables the sustainable aviation fuel industry to optimise supply chain networks and biomass feedstock sourcing using satellite and ground-level data. Through pilots with renewable fuel producers, the company has demonstrated how Earth observation can support decision-making and reduce costs across aviation's decarbonisation pathways.
- 2Excel investigated the detail and reliability of hyperspectral satellite data for use in monitoring woodland conditions. In doing so, 2Excel have gained insight into the benefits and challenges of hyperspectral satellite data for large-scale woodland condition monitoring.
- Plastic-i has developed prototype AI models using satellite data to map seagrass extent and estimate carbon storage across key UK sites. These outputs have been integrated into the Plastic-i Observatory platform, providing straightforward access for users and supporting practical applications in environmental monitoring and decision-making. The work has already attracted interest from multiple organisations looking to apply these capabilities to environmental monitoring, carbon assessment and decision-making.
By backing innovative climate projects such as these, the UK Space Agency is helping to derisk emerging ideas and attract further private investment into a high growth market.
This approach not only accelerates the development of commercially viable climate services, but also builds confidence among investors and customers in the value of satellite enabled solutions.
In doing so, these projects demonstrate how targeted public funding can unlock economic growth while supporting the protection of our natural environment and a more resilient future.
Leave a comment