SPACE DOTS® has been selected as one of two companies in the first cohort of the newly established ESA Phi-Lab UK, receiving nearly £190,000 in seed funding for SEISMIC – a pioneering project that will establish a distributed space environment intelligence system.

The announcement was made today at the Appleton Space Conference, hosted by STFC RAL Space, the UK's national space laboratory.

Transforming Space Weather into Operational Intelligence

SEISMIC (Space Environment Intelligence for Spacecraft Mission Integrity and Continuity) addresses a critical gap in Space Domain Awareness: environmental threats in orbit remain under-measured, under-modelled, and undervalued, despite being responsible for a significant share of spacecraft anomalies.

The project will integrate SWIMMR-heritage sensors into new low-SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) payloads for CubeSats and SmallSats, coupled with on-orbit compute and AI techniques. This approach will generate validated radiation and space-weather intelligence, detect proxy effects such as single-event upsets and voltage fluctuations on COTS processors, and deliver high-fidelity data products that directly enhance spacecraft autonomy, continuity, and resilience.

Building European Space Environmental Sovereignty

SEISMIC represents more than a technological advancement – it's a strategic step towards European autonomy in space operations. The project will deliver:

  • An architectural blueprint for scalable, distributed, operator-level environmental monitoring across orbital regimes
  • A foundation for a sovereign ESA/UK space environment intelligence capability, reducing reliance on foreign datasets
  • A shift from centralised, agency-led data to a distributed, operator-driven intelligence network that serves both defence and commercial customers

This transforms space weather from a modelling challenge into an operational data layer supporting autonomy, continuity, and spacecraft resilience across contested orbital regimes.

Addressing Real Mission-Critical Challenges

For spacecraft operators and designers, SEISMIC delivers tangible benefits:

  • Access to trusted, real-time, in-orbit environmental intelligence
  • Reduced risk of radiation-induced anomalies and mission downtime
  • Better protection for spacecraft using COTS components
  • Improved autonomy and mission continuity
  • Enhanced anomaly attribution capabilities for dual-use applications

The project also enables emerging markets including in-orbit servicing, autonomous navigation, space insurance analytics, and mission assurance tools – providing Europe with a more complete SDA picture that complements debris surveillance with environmental understanding.

Strategic Partnership with ESA and STFC

The ESA Phi-Lab UK, focused on space-enabled sustainability technologies, is part of the ScaleUp Element of ESA's newly launched ACCESS Programme. Jointly funded by the European Space Agency, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and the UK Space Agency, the hub forms part of ESA Phi-LabNET – a network of ten ESA Phi-Labs across Europe bridging disruptive research and commercial needs.

Beyond the seed funding, SPACE DOTS® will receive additional support vouchers of up to €150,000 to access technical, business and commercial expertise from Phi-Lab partners, including STFC, Amentum, and Cranfield University.

A Milestone for Space Environmental Intelligence

"We are honoured to join ESA Phi-Lab UK's first cohort," said Bianca Cefalo, CEO and Founder of SPACE DOTS®. "SEISMIC is an important step toward treating the space environment as an operational data layer, not a background risk. Working alongside ESA and the SWIMMR team is a major milestone for SPACE DOTS® and a catalyst for Europe's future resilience and autonomy in orbit."

For SPACE DOTS®, SEISMIC validates our space environmental intelligence solutions, strengthens our leadership in the emerging category of in-situ space environment intelligence, and accelerates pathways to GEO and dual-use customers. The project opens commercialisation routes through data licences, sensor-as-a-service models, and anomaly detection at the edge.

About ESA Phi-Lab UK

The ESA Phi-Lab UK is designed to be a seedbed for transformational innovation in space, with projects selected for their innovation and commercialisation potential. The hub builds on STFC's 15-year track record of delivering ESA Business Incubation Centre UK (ESA BIC UK), which has supported numerous companies, creating over 1,000 highly skilled jobs and contributing £350m cumulative direct UK economic impact.

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, quantum sensing, robotics, and Earth observation instrumentation are creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs in space-based technology. The ESA Phi-Lab UK aims to catalyse development in these areas whilst strengthening space clusters across the UK.