UK funds six space-AI projects for climate action

The UK Space Agency has awarded £1.5 million through the Unlocking Space for Business programme to six projects that combine satellite data and AI to tackle climate change, decarbonise transport, improve accessibility, and produce finance-grade environmental insights.

• Main action: The UK Space Agency provided £1.5 million of funding to six projects (Ether Capital; Foresight Group; Furrer+Frey GB Ltd; Howden; MakeSense Technology; Rebalance Earth) to develop space-enabled tools using satellite data + AI for shipping carbon risk dashboards, rail electrification planning, walking-route navigation for visually impaired people, biodiversity/land-change risk assessment, and nature/finance investment analytics. Partnerships listed include Ether Capital + AAC Clyde Space + Morphing.ai, Furrer+Frey + Airbus Defence & Space, Foresight Group + Frontierra, Howden Resilience Laboratory + PCI Geomatics (CATALYST), MakeSense + GIS Navigator, and Rebalance Earth + Treeconomy Ltd.

• Background & additional details: The programme aims to unlock adoption of space solutions across insurance, investment, transport and logistics; the UK Space Agency reports engaging 350+ organisations to date and catalysed at least £2.2 billion of investment/revenue for the UK space sector in 2024/2025. The announcement highlights that the UK space sector already employs 56,000 people. Projects are described as scalable and intended for national deployment and international export; no specific implementation timelines were provided in the article.