Bringing Space to UK Tech Scale-Ups: How Exotopic’s Tickets to Orbit Are Accelerating Time to Market

Exotopic was invited to join investors at a special session of the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs to listen to startups pitch their space tech. One by one, the entrepreneurs presented their service concepts, and innovative technologies addressing future markets with huge potential. So far, the story is familiar to Exotopic’s frequent experiences working with UK science and tech innovators presenting their ambitious timelines, to be greeted with great scepticism.

But there was something very different, pitch after pitch, a confident entrepreneur tells the investors they will be flying their tech into space in the next six months, the next quarter, next month… launch slots booked.

The mantra from the room: you aren’t really a space company until you have been to space. And for upstream tech, they have a point. But it isn’t all about kudos… the journey into space is part of growing up as a space company, learning and becoming a team of space veterans, and more importantly showing investors and customers that you are the real deal.

Apply for Your Ticket to Space

Any UK company now can apply for a place at Exotopic’s ‘Give Me Some Space!’ mission. This is part of a pioneering initiative to make testing technologies in space more accessible for a wider range of companies and innovators. Final down selection will be based on supporting the mission of getting as many UK scale-ups to space as possible.

Affordability is a significant barrier for developing new technologies in space. Through missions that enable a cost-benefit testing site in-orbit, UK companies will have a chance to supercharge innovation for their products. This initiative is the prime example of missions and related activity that will expand access of tech companies into the space sector.

By grouping applications according to compatibility with other passengers on a standard satellite platform, there are more spaces available for smaller and less demanding passengers than for larger ones. The ambition is to target companies with no space heritage, showcasing the potential of leveraging the space environment to develop innovative use cases for their technology.

The first mission will focus on:

Majority of production and delivery capability within the UK.
A product or service that is at least TRL7 and ready to fly by Q1 2025.
Passengers looking to procure TRL9 products and services.
Be an SME and/or have a clear justification for deserving a ticket.
Volume and power requirements that facilitate the accommodation of multiple payloads on a 12U or 16U bus (lower volume and power increases chances of securing the first flight).
A specific and closed-ended test (shorter duration likely increases chances of securing the first flight).

Launch To the Future

Exotopic wants to pioneer the future of developing tech in space, bringing this opportunity to UK scale-ups to operate an in-orbit demonstrator. Give Me Some Space! aims to get as many UK space technologies flying, by embracing simplicity to overcome the barriers of time and cost.

These types of missions will show investors and customers that the participating UK space companies and their innovations are indeed the real deal, while it lays the stepping stone to prove how this sort of UK initiatives make space a common place to impact several sectors, nationally and globally. The mission has the potential to supercharge the UK and global space ecosystem and economy, the linked sectors and all the incredible opportunities and technologies they offer.

Secure your launch slot, sign up now!

Exploring the Potential of Future Telecoms

Visit our Future Telecoms Hub to learn more or to register for regular updates.

Future Telecoms is techUK’s exploration of what the connectivity of tomorrow will look like. We will highlight the criticality of communications to our future prosperity and economic growth, and how the future telecoms ecosystem acts as the engine of innovation. Visit our Future Telecoms Hub to learn more or to register for regular updates.