The facility will be a place for smaller organisations to work alongside Airbus in the space sector.  

Airbus will open a new facility in the UK specifically targeted at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the space sector, a 29 October announcement from the UK trade association ADS has revealed.  

Dubbed Airbus Launchpad, the facility is slated to open in early 2026 in Stevenage, a town just north of London, and will be used to foster innovation, collaboration, and SME development in the UK space sector. 

“This new facility will serve as a hub for collaboration, creativity, and capability-building, with a range of lab facilities including robotics, AR [augmented reality], VR [virtual reality] and rapid prototyping [available to SMEs] to strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in space innovation”, Airbus said.  

The Airbus Launchpad will provide a place for SMEs, startups, and research organisations to work alongside Airbus experts to create new space technologies, the firm added.  

The initiative will be supported by the UK Space Agency’s Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund, which was launched in May 2023 with GBP50 million earmarked for space research and infrastructure projects. 

Companies are encouraged to register interest in joining the project before 6 November.  

An Airbus spokesperson was not at liberty to discuss further details when DSEI Gateway reached out for comment, though they did draw attention to some of the firms ongoing work with UK SMEs.  

The Airbus UK Space Accelerator launched in 2024, for example, aims to help space startups, academic organisations, and non-traditional space companies advance their offerings and understand the commercial space landscape.   

The UK Government has also been enthusiastic about space investment in recent months, with an announcement at the start of October revealing it will develop sensors to protect satellites against attacks from lasers under a new GBP500,000 project.  

Earlier in the year, CGI UK committed to delivering a new space domain awareness command and control system for the UK military under a five-year GBP65 million contract.