COVID-19. Photo: CDC

The U.K. Space Agency, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), have deployed approximately $2.8 million to develop space-enabled technology and services in order to aid the National Health Service’s (NHS) response to coronavirus. 

Space-enabled solutions could include satellite communications, satellite navigation, Earth Observation (EO) satellites, or technology derived from human spaceflight. The funding is for projects that will address topics including: logistics within the health delivery system; managing infectious disease outbreaks; population health and wellbeing; recovering health system function and handling backlogs after the crisis; or preparedness for future epidemics. 

Nick Appleyard, head of Downstream Business Applications at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications in Oxfordshire said: “Even in normal times, satellites and space technology offer solutions to our needs in connectivity and inclusion, in resilience and logistics, and to support healthcare provision in even the most extreme situations. The current circumstances challenge the space business community to show just how much it can offer, to help us through this a once in a century event.”