Space technologies are expensive, risky and for the long-term. Between the first idea and a marketable product there are often years in which a company has to invest without knowing whether the technology will ever work or whether a suitable market will emerge. This is the gap the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme is designed to close. It co-funds the development of new space technologies, cushions research and development risks, and is meant to trigger private investment that would not otherwise ensue. To assess whether it succeeds, the UK Space Agency has commissioned a consortium led by know.space to accompany the programme over its lifetime: with monitoring that systematically records progress and results, with an evaluation that assesses impact and value for money, and with benefits management that defines and tracks the expected benefits from the outset. Evaluation Office contributes expertise in econometric and evaluation methods to this consortium. The research question is familiar to us from start-up and innovation funding. Only the sector is new.
Partners
