The APPG for Entrepreneurship’s Call for Evidence will look at how the UK can best support startups and scaleups in the space sector.

We’ve split the Call for Evidence into two.

For entrepreneurs, our questions focus on your experience starting a business, the challenges you have encountered, and your views on whether regulation and policy needs to change.

For researchers, business representative organisations, and organisations who work with and support entrepreneurs directly (e.g. VCs, accelerators) we want to know what your own data and research says about how best to help the sector grow. Although please feel free to include data and research undertaken by others.

Please don’t feel obliged to answer all the questions. We would prefer that you focus on one or two questions where you feel you can add the most value, rather than answer them all without detail/evidence. However, don’t let this deter you from answering them all if you want.

Feel free to answer only the questions you find relevant.

Please send all submissions as PDF files to philip@tenentrepreneurs.org

The Call for Evidence will close on Friday 29th October.

For Entrepreneurs

Background information

  • Briefly describe your background – including region, gender, age, ethnic background (if you want)

  • Briefly describe what your business does, how large it is and in what part of the sector it is in.

National Space Strategy

  • What do you think about the National Space Strategy? (e.g. What was positive? What was negative? What was missing?)

Funding

  • What type of finance do you have experiences with? How was your experience – positive and negative – of raising funds for your business(es)?

  • What type of finance did you seek to raise?

  • Have you experienced/noticed any gaps in funding? If so, at what stage?

  • Have you experienced/noticed any bureaucracy around grant funding that you think is unnecessary?

Regulation

  • Have you experienced/noticed any regulatory barriers that hold back the creation and scaling of more businesses in the space sector or which act as a barrier to entry?

  • Are there areas where increased regulation or clarification/transparency of existing regulations (including in relation to licensing and spectrum) would help you?

  • How does the UK’s regulatory framework compare with that of other countries?

  • What is the government currently doing well to support you that you would like to ensure does not stop?

  • What more, if anything, could the government do to support the growth of your business and the wider sector?

  • Do you have any experience from other countries that you think could be applied to the UK?

  • Have you accessed any publicly-funded business support schemes/services – whether specific to the space sector or more general support for start-ups?

  • If so, please say something about your experience – positive and negative. Is there anything the government could/should do differently?

Government Policy

  • Have you tried to sell into government? If so, have you experienced anything positive or negative?

  • What could the government do to help with this?

Procurement

  • What do you think of current or planned infrastructure designed to support the growth of the sector (e.g. Spaceports)?

  • Are there any additional infrastructure that would help your business flourish?

Infrastructure

  • Do you have any experience/observations – positive or negative – of corporate venturing in the UK? 

  • Do you think there could be a bigger role for corporate venturing in the UK? If so, how could the government help with this?

Venturing

  • Do you have any experiences - positive or negative - of export and/or inward investment? If so, what would you like to see the government doing differently to support this?

  • Is your experience of inward investment consistent across the UK?

Export and Inward Investment

  • Do you have any experience/observations of dealing with organisations supporting the space sector (e.g. UKspace Trade Association, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Satellite Applications Catapult, SFN, KTN, Innovate UK, ADS, techUK, any of the UK Research Councils, others)?

  • Is there anything that you think they should do more of / less of / differently? 

Organisations

  • Do you have access to the right skills to scale your business? If not, which skills do you need?

  • How could the government help with this?

Skills

  • Is there anything else you think we should be aware of?

Additional Comments

For Researchers and Business Groups

  • Briefly describe what you and/or your organisation do, how large is it and what part of the sector is it in?

Background information

National Space Strategy

  • What do you think about the National Space Strategy? (e.g. What was positive? What was negative? What was missing?)

  • Can you share analysis/evidence of funding challenges / gaps for entrepreneurs in the sector?

  • Can you share any analysis/evidence of bureaucracy that could be reduced for grants?

Funding

  • Are there any regulatory barriers that hold back the creation and scaling up of more businesses in the space sector, or act as a barrier to entry?

  • Are there areas where increased regulation or clarification/transparency of existing regulations (including in relation to licensing and spectrum) would help you?

  • How does the UK’s regulatory framework compare with that of other countries?

Regulation

  • What is the government currently doing well to support the sector that you would like to ensure does not stop?

  • What more, if anything, could the government do to support entrepreneurs (start-ups and scale-ups) in the space sector?

  • Are there any lessons the UK could learn from other countries?

Government Policy

  • How would you assess the government as a customer for entrepreneurial businesses? Could it be improved and if so how?

Procurement

  • What do you think of current or planned infrastructure designed to support the growth of the sector (e.g. Spaceports)? Is there any additional infrastructure that you think would support the sector?

Infrastructure

  • Can you share any analysis/evidence of space sector university spinouts in the UK?

Universities

  • Can you share any analysis/evidence of access corporate venturing in the UK?

  • Do you think there could be a bigger role for corporate venturing in the UK? If so, how could the government help with this?

Venturing

  • Can you share any analysis/evidence relating to the experience of entrepreneurs looking to export and/or bring a new business to the UK?

  • Is there more the government could be doing to support exporting/inward investment for entrepreneurs?

  • Are there any lessons the UK could learn from other countries?

Export and Inward Investment

  • Do you have any analysis/evidence accessing the quality of publicly-funded business support schemes/services - whether specific to the space sector or more general support for start-ups?

  • Are generic schemes easily accessible by space sector start-ups? Do they have more specialised needs than those schemes are able to meet? Is there anything the government could/should do differently?

Business Support

  • Do you have any analysis/evidence accessing the quality of any organisations supporting the space sector (e.g. UKspace Trade Association, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Satellite Applications Catapult, SFN, KTN, Innovate UK, ADS, techUK, any of the UK Research Councils, others)?

  • Is there anything that you think they should do more of / less of / differently?

Organisations

  • Is there anything else you think we should be aware of?

Additional Comments

Please send all submissions via email to philip@tenentrepreneurs.org