The United Kingdom Research and Innovation Science and Technology Facilities Council (UKRI, STFC), and the Centre for EO Instrumentation (CEOI) are pleased to announce the release of a new Call for the Earth Observation Marine and Climate Mission Development Programme (EO4MCM)
Earth Observation Marine and Climate Mission Development Programme(EO4MCM)
The UKRI and CEOI are pleased to announce an Earth Observation (EO) Technology Call, with the primary aim to solicit new and innovative ideas for EO technology developments for small satellite constellations addressing marine and/or climate applications.
-The UK EO Marine & Climate Mission Development (EO4MCM) Programme is one of the 17 projects funded by DSIT (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/earth-observation-investment/projects-in-receipt-of-funding#science-and-technology-facilities-council-stfc—1473-million) which work through delivery partners including:
- ESA (via UKSA); £122.6M for FutureEO, TRUTHS, Aeolus-2, Digital Twin Earth, and InCubed-2.
- UKSA; £15M for EO Technology Programme.
- NERC; £19.3M for UK EO Climate Information Service (UKEO-CIS), EO Data Hub, and SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training Programmes for EO.
- STFC; £14.73M for EO4MCM, Small Satellite Calibration Facility, UK/Australia EOAgroClimate Programme, and Surface Temperature Radiometer Network.
- Met Office; £11.73M for Transatlantic Data Science Academy, Twinning capability for the Natural Environment (TWINE), and UK Marine & Climate Advisory Service (MCAS).
- Innovate UK; £4.21M for Innovation in EO.
This Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is for the first Open Call to participate in this new programme. The guiding principles for the selection of proposals will be science excellence, societal impact, and/or commercial potential, but we will consider feasibility and affordability.
As stated in the 23 November 2022 announcement:
“The UK EO Marine & Climate Mission Development Programme will deliver early preparation to gather UK requirements, research and industry strengths, and space technologies to build and operate a UK-led Earth Observing system to support the fight against climate change and achieving Net Zero. By working with government, academia, industry and international partners, the project will capture and translate new climate and environmental challenges of the UK and its surrounding waters into a set of mission technologies and concepts, that will help the UK prepare for future challenges.”
The aim of the programme is to support the development of EO instrumentation for constellations of multiple micro- to small satellites that provide spatial and/or temporal improvements in sampling. These should complement the capabilities of existing spacecraft and provide the UK with a leading capability in marine and climate applications.
Our intention is to issue five grants of around £500K (with additional funding required by industry in line with national Subsidy Control measures) each from a budget of ~£2.5M to prototype an instrument.
Full Proposals are due for submission by 3rd August at noon
Full Proposals are due for submission by Thursday 10th August 2023 at noon
In view of the late changes to Subsidy Control rules affecting proposals into the EO4MCM opportunity, we are delaying the submission date. This is so that bidding teams have an additional 7 days to obtain clearances from their commercial/financial departments prior to submission.
The Call is open to industry, HEIs and other research organisations based in the UK. Collaborative proposals involving industrial and other partners of all types are strongly encouraged. Proposals should be aligned with relevant national strategies, details of which can be found in the applicable documents in the AO.
EO4MCM: Urgent clarification.
See below for an urgent clarification for the EO4MCM Announcement of Opportunity relating to Subsidy Control Regulations. Please read, as it will affect any proposal made under this AO.
EO4MCM Subsidy Control Regulations
There was a Bidders Briefing by telephone/video conference from 10.00 to 12.00 on 15th June 2023.
Please see the Questions and Answers taken from this conference here
Applicants are required to notify CEOI of their intention to bid by email to CEOIadmin@le.ac.uk using the pro-forma available on the CEOI website, by noon 19th June 2023. This is not prohibitive, but will allow CEOI to judge the response to the call, and to allocate suitable qualified reviewers.