The continued growth of the cluster is supported by several anchor organisations, including RAL Space, the UK Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult – and ESA.

ESA’s Harwell-based European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) is home to teams working in telecommunications, commercialisation, Earth observation, exploration and technology development.

The facility hosts ESA’s 5G/6G Hub, which is accelerating the deployment of space-enabled connectivity, and ESA’s climate team, which uses satellite data to monitor long-term changes impacting the planet. On the surrounding campus, ECSAT supports several other facilities, including ESA’s Business Incubation Centre UK, which helps start-ups to turn their space-connected ideas into commercial reality.