The agreement was formally re-signed at the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025) at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on 1 October.
The renewed agreement aims to reaffirm and extend shared commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation in space science, technology and innovation.
The agreement was signed in person by Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo and UK Space Agency chief executive officer Dr Paul Bate. Both leaders spoke about the enduring value of the partnership, including new opportunities for economic growth, advanced space capabilities and contributions to global challenges such as climate resilience and food security.
Bate confirmed that the UK Space Agency is sharing insights made into growth and development of small-to-medium enterprises (SME) in the industry.
“So we have over 1,900 space organisations in the UK and the vast majority of them are relatively small, some are pre-revenue,” he said.
“The two things that we’ve learned is that we have to keep investing in that ecosystem. You can’t get the big companies until you’ve got the smaller ones. It’s a long-term endeavour.
“So multi-year funding and a growth infrastructure that allows that ecosystem to flourish … Incidentally, more recently we’ve noticed a particular payback when we invest in clusters and the infrastructure in our local communities, not just in the individual companies.
“The second thing, and we announced this relatively recently in our industrial strategy, is that when we’ve got that ecosystem thriving, the challenge becomes a new one, which is how do we help those companies or a subset of them that are most likely to grow?
“We have to be a little bit discerning; what we can’t do is put all the money at the scale needed into all the SMEs.
“So, what we’re now looking at is how we unlock space and really scale up the very best organisations. And what we think will make the biggest difference is combining the research and development funding, often grant funding, with a better and more coherent approach to procurement so that anchor contracting is there from government and, where appropriate, co-investment.
“So the government and the private sector coming together to invest in those companies, helping them have the equity and therefore the cash runway to really make a success in their technology.
“We know that’s challenging for scale-ups and that’s where we want to support. So that’s we’ve been testing that quite carefully and I think you’ll see us in the UK do a lot more on that.”
Originally signed in 2021, the Space Bridge has become a cornerstone of international collaboration, enabling joint ventures between Australia and the UK across government, industry and academia.
The re-signing comes as several co-funded projects under the UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund reached successful completion, including initiatives in water quality monitoring (AquaWatch), autonomous agriculture and space sustainability, demonstrating the tangible benefits of cross-border innovation.
Palermo confirmed that the current mandate for the Australian Space Agency was to stay as a regulatory body, not create a commercial arm.
“I mean the current mandate for the agency is fivefold, we coordinate and develop spot policy across the federal government, states and territories.
“We build capability through our programs, including our Lunar Rover Program. We manage and lead the international relationships. Hence the UK space bridge today ... We do regulate and administer the Space Launch and Returns Act and then we inspire and that’s the mandate of the agency today.
“That’s very similar if you look at New Zealand, the space agency in India. Bringing together promotion, regulation and international partnerships and policies. Yeah, so that that will continue.
“It’s always been in our DNA that we were formed as an agency to build a vibrant space sector here in Australia. But also for space to be part of the enabling critical tech agenda of government.”