Eight new grant competitions from the European Space Agency (ESA) are offering substantial funding to UK organisations developing technologies that harness the possibilities of space.
These grants will support projects harnessing space technologies and assets for a wide variety of earthbound applications.
They’re worth a look even if you don’t think of your company as being directly involved in the exploitation of space.
Areas covered by this competition
- Agricultural monitoring and management
- Coastal resilience to climate change
- Metaverse technology
- Monitoring hazardous materials
- Port safety and efficiency
- Retail
- Space-based services and applications for smart cities
- Using space to improve European rail
Should you apply?
Below, I’ve summarised the key things you need to know about each of these ESA competitions.
If you want to confirm your eligibility or understand how likely you are to win one of these grants, the best thing to do is book a free Eligibility and Competitiveness Assessment.
In this free, 30-minute call, our funding experts will tell you:
- Whether you’re eligible (and if not, why not)
- What we judge to be your chances of success
- What other grants and funding you’re eligible for
The ESA Competitions
Advanced Agricultural Monitoring and Management Solution
Closes: 29 August 2025
Funding: Up to €400,000, with projects 50-80% funded
This competition is open to projects developing innovative solutions that leverage space technology to enhance crop classification, soil property mapping, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and afforestation monitoring.
Your project must be one of:
- A feasibility study: Identifying, analysing and defining new potentially sustainable services
- A demonstration project: Demonstrating and implementing pre-operational services
Coastal Resilience To Climate Change
Closes: 31 October 2025
Funding: Up to €400,000, with projects 50-80% funded
This competition is open to projects looking to advance technologies that protect European coastlines from the effects of climate change.
This includes space-based solutions connected to monitoring, planning, disaster response and recovery, insurance, tourism, and water management.
Enhancing Port Safety and Efficiency Through Space
Closes: 18 September 2025
Funding: Projects 50-80% funded
This competition is open to projects that enhance marine environment monitoring, improve operational efficiency, and bolster safety and security measures.
Future of Retail
Closes: 23 January 2026
Funding: Up to €75,000, up to 75% funded
The Future of Retail competition is looking to fund six-month feasibility studies for early-stage concepts that address one of the following areas:
- Desirability
- Viability
- Feasibility
- Motivated teams with business, technical, and financial expertise
- Added value of space data or technology
Space for Metaverse
Closes: 14 November 2025
Funding: Up to €75,000, up to 75% funded
This call will support the development of solutions that integrate metaverse functionality into new or existing services, using space technologies. The ESA is interested in projects that bring this functionality to the following areas:
- Civil security and law enforcement
- Immersive training
- Virtual reality in real estate
- Travel and tourism
Space For Sustainable, Connected and Liveable Cities
Closes: 31 December 2025
Funding: Up to €500,000 for feasibility studies. Demonstration projects on a case-by-case basis. Projects 50%-80% funded.
This competition will fund projects that harness space technology to address the rapid population growth of cities and the impact of climate change. Eligible projects must focus on one or more of the following areas:
- Sustainable Cities (Urban Sustainability)
- Connected Cities (Urban Infrastructure)
- Liveable Cities (Urban Environment)
Space4Rail
Closes: 31 Dec 2025
Funding: Up to €500,000 for feasibility studies. Demonstration projects on a case-by-case basis. Projects 50%-100% funded.
This competition supports feasibility and demonstration projects looking to harness space-based assets, such as satellite navigation and communication, to strengthen European rail.
Qualifying projects must address at least one of these thematic areas:
- Command and signalling – leveraging space-based assets to improve the business case of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)
- Improving attractiveness – building innovative and sustainable applications/services that improve the attractiveness of the railway for end users
- Improving performance – developing innovative railway applications and services that improve railway infrastructure and assets
Space for Monitoring Hazardous Materials
Closes: 18 September 2025
Funding: Up to €75,000 per project, covering up to 75% of each activity’s costs
This competition will support projects looking to advance innovative space-enabled applications for hazardous materials management.
Secure Transformative Funding with GrantTree
These eight ESA competitions represent a fantastic opportunity for UK innovators looking to employ space technologies in a range of fields.
As with all ESA competitions, these calls are bound to attract significant interest from across the continent, meaning only a small number of applications will receive funding.
GrantTree’s innovation grants experts can maximise your chances of success.
Leveraging our unmatched experience, which has connected companies with over £500 million in funding, our team can ensure you put forward the strongest possible application, launching you towards a game-changing grant.
To get expert help with an application – or a free, no-obligation assessment of your eligibility and suitability for these ESA grants – just get in touch.
