International Bilateral Fund - Call 3
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
Award
£1m – £1.5m
Total fund Up to £12m
Deadline
Closes 4 November 2026
Where
UK-wide
Summary
The UK Space Agency, invites proposals for projects through the International Bilateral Fund (IBF) that will help strengthen the UK space sector’s international partnerships. Projects can be up to 18 months and must begin on 1 April 2027. Up to £1.5m is available in UK Space Agency grant funding for each project. Owing to high levels of anticipated demand for this funding call, the UK Space Agency has taken the decision to restrict the number of applications to one per lead organisation (for the avoidance of doubt, this measure applies to all types of organisations, including industrial, academic and public sector research bodies). The inclusion of an international partner and matched contributions (as per UK subsidy control guidelines) are mandatory.
Who can apply
The project must be led by a UK organisation who will receive a grant from the UK Space Agency. This can be any type of UK organisation including University-led academic research proposals and Industry-led commercial research proposals. All Grant recipients must have a UK bank account and all grant payments will be made in UK sterling (as per grant funding agreement). As per the terms of the Grant Funding Agreement, the lead organisation will be required to put in place a Collaboration or Flow Down Agreement that ensures all terms and conditions within the Grant Funding Agreement are passed onto project partners. This should be in place with 30 days of signature. This should include provisions regarding how the results of the work, including any IPR and spinouts, will be exploited by project partners. In Addition: All project members must have in place and provide evidence when requested of appropriate anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies. All project members must be able to provide evidence that they are GDPR compliant. All project members must provide evidence of a process for declaring and managing conflicts of interest. Projects cannot work in areas that are in active conflict and any travel to overseas areas must comply with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice. Projects must pass due diligence checks on company viability and national security (including financial standing assessment, governance assessment, conflicts of interest assessment, national security assessment and technical expertise assessment) – the UK Space Agency reserves the right to withdraw any offer in the event an applicant does not pass any of these requirements. Projects must comply with any call-specific rules stated in the call guidance page. Projects can include non-domestic partners (including those within the EU) who bring their own funding. All Grant recipiants must be able to demonstrate the ability to effectively manage a project. Applicants should note that all applicants, irrespective of geographic location, must still satisfy the core eligibility requirements set out above and award will be subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence checks.The full guidelines can be read here eligibility criteria for grant funding
Full details
The UK Space Agency, part of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade (BIST), invites proposals for projects through the International Bilateral Fund (IBF) that will help strengthen the UK space sector’s international partnerships. The objectives of the IBF are to: Deepen relationships through international partnerships, strengthening the UK as a trusted space partner of choice. Deliver the Government’s economic growth agenda by enabling high-value collaboration, innovation, increased market access and exports. Leverage international partnerships to build priority UK capabilities and protect national security. We particularly encourage applications to support partnerships with entities in Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan and the USA but also welcome applications for partnerships with other countries, including emerging space nations, where there are strong opportunities to support IBF objectives. All applications must clearly evidence how the partnership supports both UK and partner country space priorities.