Guidance

General Support Technology Programme (GSTP)

The General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) is an ESA programme aimed at the development of new and innovative space technologies.

Documents

GSTP Expression of Interest

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GSTP Statement of Interest

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GSTP Guidance Notes

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GSTP Approval Procedure Flow Chart

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Details

General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) is a technology support and development programme, to which the UK Space Agency committed €40m at the last European Space Agency (ESA) Council of Ministers Meeting in November 2019.

It provides support to companies and academic institutions across the UK in developing innovative technologies to grow UK capability. We are keen to engage with start-ups and SMEs (from both within and outside the space sector), as well as established companies and organisations. Collaborative proposals are also welcomed.

To encourage smaller companies and those who are considering working in the space sector we have utilised and engaged in two envelope programmes. The first programme enables companies to apply for an initial activity to de-risk their proposed project with a smaller fully funded project of up to €200k, which must be delivered within 9 months. On successful completion of the initial activity applications are then welcomed for the follow-on activity. This may be delivered in up to two phases and match funding of up to 50% will be required – which is subject to negotiation with the UK Space Agency GSTP lead. There is also the option of applying for a Building Block activity, these are fully funded and up to €500k may be requested – this programme is used to prepare and develop enabling capabilities for space related systems and the associated sub-systems. These projects must be completed within 18 months.

This De-risk and Building Block envelope programmes do not replace the traditional method for securing support through GSTP via the ESA competitive tendering process but is an additional method of providing a non-competitive support mechanism.

The application process for engaging with the GSTP team involves initially completing the Expression of Interest template, you will then be contacted to discuss your proposal and where required you will then be asked to submit a completed Statement of Interest document. These are proposals are reviewed and scored by a panel of multi-disciplinary UK Space Agency technology leads, with (when appropriate) a recommendation from the ESA Technical Department, for unsolicited proposals.

Please note - we have undertaken a review of and have updated the GSTP processes and procedures, which take effect from 1st January 2022. Please ensure that you have familiarised yourself with the most current guidance before applying for support through the GSTP programme including the updated documentation, guidance notes, document submission dates and application flow chart.

For any further enquiries contact the GSTP lead, Helen Roberts, at GSTP@ukspaceagency.gov.uk.

Published 3 April 2020
Last updated 11 May 2022 + show all updates
  1. Updated GSTP Statement of Interest Submission Dates

  2. Update to submission dates of GSTP

  3. Updated documents: SOI and Guidance

  4. Documents updated: Approval Procedure, Guidance, Statement of Interest Form and Submission dates.

  5. Updated General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) Statement of Interest (SOI) Documentation Submission Dates

  6. Updated rescheduled Statement of Interest (SOI) Documentation Submission Dates.

  7. Updated GSTP Statement of Interest Submission Dates

  8. First published.