Space Applications in the England’s East Midlands

The continued development of GNSS is enabling a huge downstream market in services and equipment – 250 billion Euros plus by 2020. Today’s main markets in terms of volume are in GNSS-enabled mobile phones and Portable Navigation Devices. Earth Observation and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is a cornerstone of the EU’s Space Policy framework programme, with a development budget of 1.4 billion Euros (2007-13) to support the development and commercialisation of opportunities across public and private sector in support of mapping, resource and emergency management.

The University of Leicester enjoys worldwide recognition for its international research in space science, planetary exploration and earth observation science: the National Space Centre in Leciester is a A�60M science visitor centre attracting over 200,000 visitors annually, with over 10,000 students and their science teachers participating in its Space Academy and other space education programmes. Meanwhile, the University of Nottingham is a world leader in space-based applications of GNSS.

Space applications industry

Industry specialists

Thanks to our world-class facilities and strong skills base, a number of key businesses involved in space applications have chosen England’s East Midlands as their base.

Handling almost half of the European Space Agency’s total Earth Observation data collection, Infoterra is an EADS Astrium company based in Leicester. It acquires and processes airborne and satellite data, provides operational information for monitoring and managing security and the environment, and operates one of Europe’s largest commercial geospatial hosting and archiving facilities.

With proven expertise in providing reliable, robust GNSS technologies, Nottingham Scientific Ltd (NSL) is a spin-out company from The University of Nottingham. At the cutting edge of positioning technologies, they have vast experience in satellite navigation, algorithm and software development, system prototyping, performance prediction and monitoring, and project management.

International aerospace companies rely on Lincoln’s Lockheed Martin Stasys Ltd, to provide impartial systems, technology and management consultancy to public and private sector clients worldwide.

Specialising in airborne surveys, BlueSky International Limited is based in Leicestershire. With more than 30 years’ industry experience, they are experts in data capture and analysis.

The National Space Centre in Leicester was founded through a partnership between the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, with support from the British National Space Centre and EADS Astrium. It hosts the only Challenger Learning Centre outside North America, and is also part of a regional collaboration which has set up UK’s first Space Academy.

NEREUS (Network of European Regions Utilising Space Technology) is a network of European regions with an interest in the application of space technologies, and aims to influence European and national policy on the exploitation of space technologies and applications. England’s East Midlands is the only UK founding member.