Jo Johnson, minister for universities and science, said: "The space sector is one of Britain's great success stories. This mission will help the brightest and best of British firms showcase their innovate products and expand into new markets, creating new jobs for Britain and boosting productivity.
The Space Mission 2015 – from 8 to 14 August – first takes in the Small Satellite Conference in Utah, hosted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The companies then move on to California to meet teams from NASA,Virgin Galactic and Lockheed Martin along with other industry-leading organisations and investors.
The nine that went through a competitive funding process to join the mission are:
- Arralis Technologies – supplies radar technology.
- Bird.i – a startup that makes earth observation and satellite data socially useful.
- Bright Ascension – develops software solutions for satellites.
- Gyana – a startup that uses advanced mathematics and machine-learning to harness big data for everyday use.
- Mars Space Ltd – provides services and consultancy on space propulsion, plasma engineering and science.
- Oxford Space Systems – a supplier of deployable space structures.
- Printech Circuit Laboratories – circuitry manufacturer for the space industry.
- Scot Sat – offers mobile satellite communications.
Tim Just, head of space at Innovate UK, said: "The Space Mission 2015 demonstrates the UK Government's commitment to supporting and growing the British space industry. All of these burgeoning firms are at the forefront of the new space race and have genuinely built innovative solutions to some of the sector's greatest challenges.
"We are proud to support these companies as they lay the foundation for future British economic growth."
He added: "Innovate UK and UKTI have identified the space sector as a high-growth potential market. Their space industry specialists will be on hand during the mission to assist the companies and ensure they maximise their opportunities."
