Success Story
Frontier Space, a trailblazer in commercial microgravity research and in-space biotechnology, secured a £75,000 loan facility from Sprk Capital to improve cashflow while delivering on a high-profile Innovate UK project. The funding, backed by the British Business Bank, allowed the business to maintain momentum on its ground-breaking autonomous laboratory platform, culminating in the successful launch of its SpaceLab Mark 1 demonstrator aboard SpaceX’s Bandwagon-3 mission.
| Region/Nation | East of England |
|---|---|
| Sector | Technology |
| Programme | FinTech |
| Partner |
Unlocking access to orbital science
Frontier Space was born from a vision shared by four Cranfield University researchers who wanted to remove the traditional barriers to conducting science in space. The team’s work paved the way for SpaceLab, a modular, fully autonomous "lab-in-a-box" for conducting experiments in microgravity environments, without the traditional barriers to space-based research.
Their first mission, supported by Imperial College London and other research partners, delivered biological payloads to low Earth orbit for real-time and return-based analysis, opening the door to new discoveries in biomanufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and sustainable food production.
With their latest technology now orbit-tested and returning to Earth aboard ATMOS Space Cargo’s Phoenix-1 capsule, Frontier Space is positioning itself at the forefront of space-enabled biotech manufacturing.
The £75,000 loan from Sprk Capital, backed by the British Business Bank’s Fintech Programme, provided much needed working capital to bridge quarterly grant payments. This enabled Frontier Space to stay focused on mission development and delivery.
This mission represents a major step in democratising space research. With Sprk Capital’s support, we were able to maintain momentum and prove that high quality science in space doesn’t need to be cost prohibitive.
- Aqeel Shamsul CEO, Frontier Space
The mission included a sample return experiment developed with the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein and Imperial College London, demonstrating critical infrastructure for future space biomanufacturing. Additional systems tested included microfluidics integration, autonomous operations, and in-orbit durability validation.
Innovation on a global stage
The launch, Europe’s first commercial returnable space mission, was a success, marking Frontier Space’s transition from concept to commercial reality. While full success awaits the Phoenix-1 capsule's recovery, early objectives, including launch survivability, autonomous operation, and data capture, have already been achieved.
We’re proud to support Frontier Space at such a pivotal moment. Their work is not only pioneering for the space sector, but has real implications for future food, fuel, and medicine supply chains. This is a company to watch.
- Dominick Peasley Chief Executive Officer, Sprk Capital
Building toward the future of in-space research and development
With its technology successfully demonstrated in orbit, and strategic funding partners in place, Frontier Space is accelerating development of its next-generation bioreactor and expanding collaborations across bioscience, pharma, and space sectors.
This story highlights how funding from British Business Bank through funders like Sprk Capital is playing an increasingly vital role in fostering innovation and boosting competition across UK finance, and becoming a key source of funding for the next generation of businesses.
- Geoff Whiteland Senior Director, Funds, British Business Bank
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