The UK Space Agency has joined the effort to support the NHS response to the coronavirus pandemic with the announcement of a £2.6 million fund for the development of hi-tech solutions to some of the most pressing challenges created by the crisis.
The fund is a joint initiative with the European Space Agency (ESA) and aims to fund projects that address some of the NHS’s most urgent needs including the use of drone technology to deliver test kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and satellite data’s role in managing infectious disease outbreaks and more widely, the wellbeing of the nation.
These projects could include satellite communications, satellite navigation, Earth observation satellites and technology derived from human spaceflight.
Some of these technologies are already being used in digital tools developed to manage specific aspects of the pandemic. Lanterne, for example, recently announced an app to help citizens manage social distancing, which uses GPS satellite data and AI technologies.
To qualify for funding, projects will need to address at least one of five areas:
- Logistics within the health delivery system
- Management of infectious disease outbreaks
- Population health and wellbeing
- Post-outbreak health system function recovery and backlog handling
- Preparedness for future epidemics
Professor Tony Young, the NHS national clinical lead for innovation, said the service is looking externally as well as to its internal sources for support in managing its response to the pandemic.
“This is a global crisis that would overwhelm any health service on earth without strong action from the public and their public services, which is why the NHS is looking to industries across the world – or indeed from out of this world – for new and exciting innovations that could help improve the care we provide to patients or help the NHS respond to this pandemic,” he said.
Essential speed
Nick Appleyard, head of downstream business applications at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, said that even in normal times, satellites and space technology offer solutions to our needs in connectivity, inclusion, resilience, logistics and support the provision of healthcare, however extreme the situation.
“The current circumstances challenge the space community to show just how much it can offer, to help us through this once-in-a-century event,” he said. “Speed is of the essence, so let us act without delay.”
Funding to support the coronavirus response comes from the ESA’s Business Applications Space Solutions fund, in which the UK is a leading investor.
UK science minister Amanda Solloway said: “This new funding will ensure that the latest innovations will be on the frontline of tackling the unique problems the coronavirus outbreak has created, helping medical staff to focus on delivering world-class care.”
The UK Space Agency and UKspace trade body also continue to work together to help the space sector respond to the pandemic.
