General Support Technology Programme (GSTP)

General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) is a technology support and development programme, which consists of three elements, Element 1 – Develop, Element 2 – Make and Element 3 - Fly .

This programme continues to provide support to companies and academic institutions across the UK in developing innovative technologies to grow UK capability. We now frequently engage with start-ups and SMEs (from both within and outside the space sector), as well as established companies and organisations with collaborative proposals also welcome.

The UK Space Agency committed €83m at the last European Space Agency (ESA) Council of Ministers Meeting in November 2022 of which €15m was allocated to Electrical, Electronic and Electro-mechanical (EEE) Sovereignty Component activities, €23m for ENDURE (European Devices Using Radioisotope Energy) activities and €5m for SOLARIS (Space Based Solar Power) activities.

These activities can be found on the ESA STAR – which is a competitive ITT Procurement platform. These ITTs are issued on the procurement system are initiated via the GSTP compendia, which are generated by ESA on a 3 yearly basis, following discussions with delegates, industry (including academia) across ESA member states and ESA technical officers. To view documentation on ESA STAR you will need to register to gain access to the platform via https://esastar-emr.sso.esa.int/

The most recent triennial compendia were issued in November 2022, and contains 143 activities covering 10 Competence Domains. Following a UK Space Agency GSTP Call, which closed on 17 April 2023, 26 potential ITT activities were selected and are being supported by the UK, to the value €15.9m. These ITTs will be released over the next two years and by providing our support it allows any UK entity (including collaborations) to bid for the ITTs when released. Further information regarding these supported activities can be found in the UK Space Agency GSTP Supported Compendia Activities document, which includes indicative dates (as they become known) as to when the competitive ITTs will be release.

The compendia consist of the following technology areas

• Generic Technologies considering critical elements.
• Artificial Intelligence focusing on guidance navigation and control (GNC), on the edge artificial intelligence, and autonomous mission operations.
• Digitalisation representing all the different elements of a space system digitally, with a particular emphasis on model-based system engineering, simulation, digital spacecraft and data management.
• Quantum Technologies that develop the underlying theory, techniques and technologies on quantum processing, that enhances the performance, payload and/or mission planning.
• Cybersecurity which addresses the continuing evolution of the cybersecurity threat-mitigation landscape and the challenges of securing space activities and their ground and space-based assets.

In addition to the Compendia issued in November 2022 an additional EEE Sovereignty Component Compendia focused on key missions and application enabling and high-return key technologies that sit within six technology lines was issued in March 2023 and requests for support for these activities are currently being reviewed with the supported activities being added to the UK Space Agency GSTP Supported Compendia Activities document over the coming weeks.

Alongside these sit the SOLARIS (Space based solar power) Specific Area of Interest Potential Activities document, which contains a several activities, some of which will be released this year and others once they have been finalised. Supported activities are also being added to the UK Space Agency GSTP Supported Compendia Activities document.

Please note that we will not be issuing another Compendia Call prior to the next European Space Agency (ESA) Council of Ministers Meeting in November 2025.

Another route to securing support through GSTP is through the Element 1 frameworks, which have extensively used but were predominantly introduced to encourage smaller companies, including those who are considering working in the space sector.

These are -

1. De-risk framework - This enables companies to apply for an initial activity to de-risk their proposed larger project with a small fully funded activity of up to €200k, which must be delivered within 9 months. If the cost of the activity exceeds €200k the shortfall will need to be sourced from elsewhere by the applicant as the value of the activity can be up to €250k.  On successful completion of the initial activity applications should then be submitted via the GSTP application process for the follow-on activity and should include a recommendation from the ESA technical officer. This may be delivered in up to two phases and match funding of up to 50% will be required – this is subject to discussion with the UK Space Agency GSTP team.

2. Building Block framework – 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 and proposals of up to €500k can be submitted for this framework. If the cost of the activity exceeds this amount, the difference will need to be provided by the applicant. Projects within this framework can be up to €1m.

Applications are also welcomed for Element 2 – Make and Element 3 – Fly, these are both permanent open calls but require match funding from the outset.

Should you have any enquiries, please contact the GSTP team, at GSTP@ukspaceagency.gov.uk