Higgs Centre for Innovation

The two key themes for this new centre being built are “Space” and “Big Data” and as such it will host a number of facilities, including:

A space-focused Business Incubation Centre (BIC), based on the successful model being run by STFC in collaboration with ESA at Harwell – but supporting not just down-stream (i.e. application) start-up companies, but also up-stream (i.e. space hardware / satellite) start-up companies. This BIC will incubate 6 new start-ups per year, hosting them for 2 years each – so housing a total of 12 start-ups at any time.
Business support services – to support the growth of the space-focused businesses being incubated in the BIC, based on the proven STFC model.
Dedicated NanoSat / CubeSat test and integration labs and cleanrooms – providing access to facilities both for the incubated companies and other SMEs, for testing space hardware. These small hardware (nano-satellite) test facilities compliment the larger satellite test facilities available through STFC’s RAL Space at Harwell.
Data visualisation and remote presence suite – with direct connections to STFC High Performance computing teams across the UK to enable business / R&D interaction with organisations across the UK and facilitate cutting-edge Big Data based research, including the exploitation of satellite data.

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