UK Space Facilities Small Spacecraft & Instrument-Level Test Facilities

Small Spacecraft & Instrument-Level Test Facilities

AAC Clyde Space
AAC Clyde Space’s in-house facilities are fully committed to its own extensive manufacturing and test programmes and so the company does not offer stand-alone testing services, instead primarily offering these as subsets of larger programmes.
AEON Engineering Ltd
AEON is a multidisciplinary engineering design, technology development and product test house. They work with Academic and R&D Institutions to deliver fully functioning products for R&D and Space applications.
Airbus Defence & Space – Portsmouth Site
The Airbus Portsmouth site has a very extensive range of space development and test facilities which effectively constitute a one-stop-shop for many of its own programmes.
Airbus DS Stevenage
The Airbus Stevenage site has an extensive range of space development and test facilities which effectively constitute a one-stop-shop for many of its own programmes.
Cranfield University
Cranfield expects to continue using a mix of its own facilities and specialist facilities at other organisations, since collaborations bring benefits to both partners.
Higgs Centre for Innovation
The Higgs Centre for Innovation is a government institute (part of STFC-UKRI, co-located with the UK Astronomy Technology Centre on the Royal Observatory Edinburgh site).
Imperial College - London
Both the Magnetometer Calibration Facility and the EOCF are world class calibration facilities able to support a full range of active characterisation projects for Blackett Laboratory physicists.
Open University
The OU Department of Physical Sciences has excellent facilities to support its in-house planetary research programmes. It is happy to collaborate with external users, subject to availability of resources and normal commercial arrangements.
RAL Space
As part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, it is clearly part of RAL Space’s mission to provide world-class space development and test facilities for the UK space community.
Satellite Applications Catapult – Harwell
The Catapult has many down-stream facilities including an operations control centre with spacecraft and payload control software, data processing facilities and data visualisation facilities including a large video wall and 3-D visualisation suite.
Space Park Leicester
Space Park Leicester aims to be a world-leading hub for innovative research, enterprise and education in space and Earth observation, Space Park Leicester will create a collaborative community for academia and industry to develop and grow.
Swansea University
Swansea University has long-standing and notable experience in collaboration with industry and research institutions in the UK and abroad.
Thales Alenia Space – UK, Harwell, Bristol & Belfast
TAS UK is a member of a major European Large Scale Integrator, and as such has access to many European AIV facilities. It is watching developments of AIV facilities at the Harwell site with great interest.
University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL)
MSSL's facilities are mainly used for internal purposes, but there is some spare capacity to support external customers under usual commercial arrangements.
University of Leicester Space Research Centre (SRC) & Space Park Leicester
The SRC’s facilities have a transient loading and are in principle available for use by external customers - the University has demonstrated experience in accommodating external work, with appropriate planning
University of Oxford - Department of Physics
The Department’s environmental test facilities are adequate for its in-house programmes. The facilities are available for use by external customers, subject to appropriate planning and commercial terms.
University of Southampton – Astronautics Group
The Astronautics Group has excellent facilities to support its space systems engineering activities and its in-house research interests and developments in both electric and chemical propulsion.
University of Southampton – Plasma and Space Science Group
The Plasma and Space Science Group has excellent facilities to support its in-house research interests and developments in electric propulsion.
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow was founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, before receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university.
University of Surrey
The University is a centre of Excellence for space and telecommunications research