Request for information: In-Orbit Demonstration Payloads / Technologies

The Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE), within the Space Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Group, are a team within the UK Space Agency supporting the portfolio of projects and programmes across the wider Agency primarily through technical assurance and research & development activities. This involves investigation of potential new activities that help achieve the aims and objectives of the UK Government’s space strategy. The OCE are currently investigating the need for government intervention to support in-orbit demonstration (IOD) activities for emerging payloads and technologies. This Request for Information (RFI) has been published to better develop our understanding.

The UK Space Agency would like to understand from space payload and technology providers if there are any payloads/technologies that are currently being developed which would benefit from an IOD opportunity. The Agency would also like to understand the potential benefits unlocked by demonstrating the payload / technology in orbit, and the current perceived barriers experienced in bringing these payloads / technologies to market. The Agency would then like to understand if and how government are best placed to support unlocking the opportunities of bringing these payloads / technologies to market.

This RFI will inform the OCE’s approach to future IOD opportunities, deepen our understanding of the current pipeline of payloads and technologies being developed that would most benefit from IOD opportunities and help the Agency develop the most appropriate intervention.

Our aims – what we want to achieve

The aims of this Request for Information are:

• To understand space payloads and technologies currently being developed in the UK which may benefit from In-Orbit Demonstration;
• To understand the technical requirements of those payloads and technologies;
• To understand the barriers experienced in bringing these payloads and technologies to market;
• To understand the perceived opportunity unlocked by demonstrating the organisation’s payload or technology in orbit that would not otherwise be realised by demonstration and validation through ground testing;
• To understand how government could support addressing these barriers and unlocking future opportunities by demonstrating your payload or technology in orbit.

In addition to this RFI and to further support our programmatic thought process on any potential interventions, the UK Space Agency will be hosting an in-person workshop based on the responses to this RFI as well as other related topics that we feel require industry's input. This workshop will bring together industry and enable us to gain insights from organisations whose payloads and technologies may benefit from In-Orbit Demonstration.

To register your interest in attending a workshop, please complete the Organisation & Contact Information section within the RFI and mark your interest in follow-up in Question 8.

Further details, including the workshop date, agenda and venue, will be provided in due course. Participants will initially be selected on a first-come-first-serve basis to organisations deemed relevant by the UK Space Agency. The outcomes of the Workshop, including any findings, recommendations, and summary outputs, will be made available to attendees and open to wider industry upon request.

How the information provided will be used and treated

Responses received will be used alongside wider available information to guide the UK Space Agency’s considerations on future activities to support in-orbit technology demonstrations.

All information provided may be considered by the UK Space Agency and other government departments for use in policy development. In providing the information requested in this document the respondent confirms that they are giving written consent that the information provided may be shared with other departments, agencies, public bodies, and subsidiaries owned by the above, and their advisors. Where information is shared within government, it will be anonymised and will not identify any specific individual or organisation who provided it.

Information provided in response to this Request for Information, including personal information, may be disclosed in accordance with any applicable law (including the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004), by order of a court or as required by any body or inquiry which has the power to compel disclosure.

The RFI participation process, including how to send responses, appears in the section directly after the questionnaire, below. If the respondent wants the information provided to be treated as confidential, they are asked to please inform us. No commercially sensitive information will be shared outside of government. Please be aware that we cannot guarantee confidentiality in all circumstances. For any questions about this process, please email: [email protected]

We will process any personal data included in the responses for this Request for Information in accordance with all applicable data protection laws. Our privacy notice is available in the section below titled “PRIVACY NOTICE”.

The information gathered will not be used beyond the stated purpose without explicit permission.

RFI Terms

This RFI is not related to any ongoing or future funding calls from the UK Space Agency.

The UK Space Agency does not commit to cover any cost incurred in the preparation or submission of any response to the RFI.

Responding or failing to respond to this RFI will not preclude the respondents from participating in any future UK Space Agency calls or requests for information or other opportunities.

The deadline for responses is 23:59 BST, 23 September 2026.

If more time is needed to provide a response or if there are additional questions about the process, please contact [email protected] with “In-Orbit Demonstration Payload / Technology RFI” as the subject line.

An email confirmation of receipt from the UK Space Agency will be sent within a one-week period to the designated point of contact.

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to follow-up and ask clarification questions on any responses.