The SatelLife Challenge is open to those aged 11 to 22 who have inspirational ideas to utilise satellite and space data and apply it to everyday life.

Examples could include using satellite data to tackle loneliness amongst elderly people, looking at changes to green spaces in your town and identifying exercise routes based on traffic flows.

The competition, which aims to support the development of science, data handling and technological skills, is split into three age groups, offering five prizes of £5,000 for each age category with an overall winner receiving £10,000. The judging panel will be made up of experts including representatives from industry, as well as the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell.

The winners from each category will be able to pitch their idea to a panel of ‘dragons’ from the space sector who will offer prizes, which could include mentoring, work experience and even the development of the idea into reality.

The best entries will also be invited to present their idea at the UK Space Conference – the most influential event for space in the UK – held in Manchester from May 30th-June 1st 2017.

Entries must be submitted by Tuesday March 7th 2017.

Details of how to enter can be found on the government website here >

Buckinghamshire Galactica

Believe it or not, leafy Buckinghamshire is a key player in the space sector. The UK Space Agency recently announced a £4.12m investment in a National Propulsion Test Facility at Westcott Venture Park, a location already home to a primary cluster of UK space organisations including Reaction Engines, Moog, Airborne Engineering, SSTL and The Falcon Project. Other prominent companies like COM DEV International Ltd, the global designer and manufacturer of space hardware, are also based in Aylesbury, so perhaps the next big idea in satellite and space data will come from the Entrepreneurial Heart of Britain too!