Author: Stuart Catchpole

What is the Patent Box?

The Patent Box scheme allows companies to pay just 10% corporation tax on profits attributable to patented products and technology.

It is a generous scheme which includes revenue from worldwide sales of patented products (or products with an integral patented component), revenue generated from the licensing or sale of patents and damages awarded in patent infringement cases.

Its aim is to encourage UK businesses to invest in research and development, create high value jobs and support economic growth.

How can you qualify?

The Patent Box is available to UK companies that own or exclusively licence a qualifying Intellectual Property (IP) right. This includes UK, European and other national patents – but notably excludes US patents.

Patent Box Applications can be made prior to the successful granting of a patent and back-dated (if beneficial) for a period.

Particularly if you already benefit from R&D tax credits, there is a strong case for using the Patent Box scheme to further reduce corporation tax.

How do you obtain a patent?

To obtain a patent, an invention needs to be both new and inventive. However, patents can be granted for seemingly minor improvements to existing technology. One of our qualified Patent Attorneys can advise on this point – it’s always worth asking if new products, processes or specific features are potentially patentable.

Unlike more traditional patent drafting and prosecution strategy which tends to priortise the breadth of the rights claimed, a patent application drafted and prosecuted purely for Patent Box eligibility can be deliberately streamlined to reduce costs and timescales.

Whatever the scope of the eventually granted qualifying patent, it’s presence alone should enable profits made by sales of the product to be taxed at just 10% provided the various Patent Box criteria are met. Specialist tax advice should be sought alongside IP law advice to ensure the Patent Box is exploited optimally.

Example savings

Let’s say it costs £15,000 to patent an innovative product and maintain patent protection for its 20-year lifespan.

The amount of Corporation Tax paid of course depends on the size and profits of your company (ranging from e.g. 19% for small companies with profits <£50K up to 25% for large companies with profits >£250K). This means that whatever the size of company you are, you can make savings and this scheme provides some welcome relief from the sting of moving to a higher tax bracket as your company grows.

Assuming Corporation Tax remains around 20%, the product needs to make just £7,500 profit per annum (£150,000 over 20 years) for the corporate tax savings alone to exceed the patent costs. If profits are greater, the savings can be substantial.

In addition, the granted patent becomes a valuable business asset which can help secure competitive advantage and attract investment. Further information from the government website is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/corporation-tax-the-patent-box

Don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@ip21.com or visit us at www.ip21.com for more information.

The Challenges

Non-Terrestrial Networks inherit all the challenges and complexities of terrestrial networks, plus a few extras. These challenges include the vastly increased distance between network nodes, variable weather conditions, adjacent satellite interference, issues with free space optics and handovers prompted by satellite movement. These dynamic network conditions can affect link integrity and performance quality.

Because of the amount of time it takes a signal to travel between a ground station and a satellite, latency values are higher in NTNs than in a terrestrial network, such as a cable or fibre internet link. These greater distances can account for up to a 20x increase in latency. In addition, due to congestion and atmospheric conditions, NTN latency can also vary widely.

Testing Considerations

Despite these challenges, customer expectations for connection reliability and application performance remain high.

With satellite technology now actively being deployed in a wide range of applications, smarter test methodologies are imperative.

Specifically, if you are not considering the effects of delay, limited bandwidth, and other network impairments early in your development and testing, you are likely to encounter irregular performance and failures when you deploy. In mission-critical situations, such as defence communications, automotive collision avoidance, and first responder communications, to name a few, the difference between a robust, high performing network could be the difference between life and death for personnel in harm’s way. An asset that provides inferior, incomplete, or intermittent sensor data will directly hinder decision makers on the ground from making optimal, timely, life-saving decisions.

The traditional approach of developing and testing in a pristine lab and later considering real-world network conditions after deploying is short-sighted, risky, time consuming, and costly. Thankfully these problems are avoidable.

The Solution

Aukua Systems have introduced their latest hardware-based solution for testing and monitoring Ethernet and IP networks, including non-terrestrial networks.

The MGA8410 multi-channel system can be configured as a Traffic Generator, Network Emulator and Network Analyser that enables engineers to easily recreate real-world, imperfect network conditions such as latency, asymmetric bandwidth limits, network congestion, or other negative scenarios.

Testing with the Aukua MGA8410 helps mitigate project risk and cost while simultaneously enabling you to conduct rapid prototyping and develop more robust, superior performing satellite networks.

For Further Information

info@gch-services.com

Tel: 01628 559980

Collateral

Aukua NTN Introduction Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhqSHzfc4B0

GCH Test & Computer Services Ltd.

GCH House

5 Whittle Parkway

Slough

SL1 6DQ

Microgravity, the near absence of gravity, gives researchers a unique laboratory where sedimentation, convection, and buoyancy disappear. With these forces removed, hidden processes become visible, enabling faster, cleaner, and more precise research in food sciences, biotechnology, medicine, and sustainable manufacturing.

Food Innovation in Orbit

· Microbial Protein Production

Imperial College London and Frontier Space have launched a “lab-in-a-box” to test whether engineered microbes can produce edible proteins in orbit, a pioneering step toward sustainable food for both astronauts and Earth-based systems.

· Space Crops & Fungi

Plant growth and mushroom cultivation experiments reveal how life adapts to stress, radiation, and the absence of gravity. These findings support the development of resilient food systems for space habitats and harsh environments on Earth.

· Better Food Stability

In microgravity, emulsions and liquids don’t settle. This allows food scientists to study:

· nutrient degradation

· texture changes

· packaging performance

Insights from orbit are helping improve shelf-life and nutrition in long-duration food storage.

Medicine & Human Health

· Perfect Protein Crystals

Proteins crystallize more uniformly in space. Companies like Merck use orbital crystals to develop improved drug formulations, including cancer immunotherapies.

· Muscle & Ageing: The MicroAge Experiment

Led by the University of Liverpool, MicroAge sent miniature muscle constructs to the ISS. Preliminary findings and related research indicate that microgravity may

accelerate some ageing-related cellular changes, helping researchers study sarcopenia, mitochondrial decline, and muscle-wasting disorders.

· Cancer & Stem Cell Discovery

The Institute of Cancer Research is sending childhood tumour cells to orbit to observe how cancer behaves in 3D without gravity. Meanwhile, stem-cell studies show that exposure to microgravity can induce accelerated ageing and DNA damage, offering a powerful model for understanding immune decline and degenerative diseases.

Microgravity often compresses some biological changes into shorter timeframes, allowing processes to be studied more quickly than on Earth.

Sustainability Spotlight

· Cool Flames: Clean Combustion for the Future

In orbit, flames become perfect spheres and may continue burning as invisible “cool flames.” These low-temperature reactions are inspiring research into:

o cleaner aviation engines

o efficient transport fuels

o low-emission industrial burners

· On-Orbit Manufacturing

Cardiff-based Space Forge is developing returnable satellites to create materials, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals in microgravity that cannot be produced on Earth. By reducing convection-driven defects and enabling ultra-precise processing, microgravity manufacturing is poised to support the UK’s sustainability and advanced materials goals.

· Cleaner Water Systems

Microgravity studies of colloids and particle aggregation are helping environmental engineers explore potential approaches for improved water purification, filtration, and pollution control.

Access to Microgravity is Expanding

Researchers now choose between:

· Drop towers: 2–9 seconds; perfect for rapid physics tests.

· Parabolic flights: 20 seconds per parabola; ideal for biology and hardware development.

· Suborbital rockets: 3–5 minutes of continuous microgravity.

· ISS missions: weeks to months of dedicated research.

· Returnable microgravity labs: emerging platforms for manufacturing and sample return.

For many commercial platforms, especially parabolic flights, suborbital rockets, and small satellites, timelines can be reduced to months rather than the multi-year cycles typical of ISS missions.

The UK’s Growing Leadership in Microgravity R&D

Key UK-driven projects:

· MicroAge (muscle ageing), University of Liverpool

· Cancer-in-Space, Institute of Cancer Research

· Microbial Protein Production, Imperial College London

· ForgeStar Manufacturing Platform, Space Forge

· National R&D coordination, UK Space Agency and Space East initiatives

The UK is becoming a leading hub for applied microgravity innovation, supported by strong academic capability, an expanding commercial sector, and cross-sector collaboration.

Conclusion:

Microgravity can reveal biological changes much more quickly than on Earth, allowing certain ageing-related or degradation processes to be studied over shorter experimental periods.

Microgravity isn’t just about space exploration; it’s a research accelerator reshaping the future of:

· sustainable food

· advanced medicine

· clean energy

· high-performance manufacturing

Article by Mary Mousavi

Article by Tech-12 Services

When you think of space, you think of rockets, satellites, and cutting-edge technology. But behind every successful mission lies a foundation of rigorous compliance and project management—areas where Tech-12 Services thrives. Today, we’re proud to announce that Tech-12 Services has joined the UK Space Agency Accelerator Shuttle Programme, marking an exciting new chapter in our journey.

Our Mission

At Tech-12 Services, our mission is simple yet powerful:
“To deliver high-quality technical and administrative services to our clients through innovation, collaboration, and integrity.”

This ethos has guided us through complex defence projects, and now it’s driving us into one of the most challenging and exciting sectors—the space industry.

Why We Took the Leap

Our roots are in delivering compliance solutions for complex projects. We’ve always been passionate about getting things right the first time, every time. So when the opportunity arose to transfer our expertise into the space sector, the decision was clear. After all, where is more complex than space?

We discovered the programme through Space East, and the idea of working in an environment that pushes the boundaries of human achievement was irresistible. Space projects are not just technically challenging—they’re pioneering. They make sci-fi ideas a reality, and we wanted to be part of that.

The Journey So Far

We’re in the early stages of the programme, focusing on defining our ideal customer profile within the space industry. The learning curve has been steep, but thanks to mentoring from Exotopic and Entrepreneurial Spark, online training, and networking opportunities, it’s been a smooth transition into a completely new sector.

The most valuable aspect so far? Connections. Being able to speak directly with existing space companies has opened doors we never thought possible. Of course, navigating an unfamiliar industry comes with challenges—finding the right people and understanding the nuances of space compliance has been tough. But every conversation brings clarity, and every challenge is an opportunity to grow.

What This Means for Tech-12

Joining the Accelerator isn’t just about exploring new horizons—it’s about diversification. The UK space sector is thriving, and we see this as a chance to move beyond defence construction and contribute to something extraordinary.

Our short-term goals are clear:

• Identify our ideal customers in the space industry.
• Understand the compliance challenges unique to space projects.
• Build strong, lasting relationships with companies already making an impact.

Long-term? We dream big. One day, we’d love to be a partner in a satellite mission or a launch project, helping to put something into space—not just figuratively, but literally.

Why It Matters

At Tech-12, our mission means supporting project managers by handling the admin tasks they hate, ensuring compliance and precision every step of the way. Bringing that ethos into the space sector means helping innovators focus on what they do best—pushing boundaries and making history.

And let’s be honest: who wouldn’t want to say their company helped put something into space? Even if it’s just the manuals, it’s still part of a journey that’s shaping the future.

Advice for Others

If you’re an existing company—big or small—consider applying for the UK Space Agency Accelerator Shuttle Programme. It’s more than a business opportunity; it’s a chance to meet incredible people delivering challenging, fascinating projects that genuinely make a difference. This programme turns science fiction into reality. Just go for it and enjoy the journey

Call to Action

As part of our customer discovery, we’re keen to learn more about the real-world challenges space companies face with compliance, documentation, and project administration. If you’re working in the space sector—whether on satellites, launch systems, or ground operations—we’d love to have a conversation.

Reach out to us at david.caddick@tech-12.co.uk or connect with me on linkedin and let’s explore how we can make compliance easier, so you can focus on innovation.

The European Astro Pi Challenge, an ESA Education and national ESERO project run in collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, is proudly celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! Since Astro Pi was launched by Tim Peake in 2015 the challenge has provided young people across Europe with the unique opportunity to write and run code on the Raspberry Pi computers aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

This anniversary challenge features two missions: Mission Zero, where beginners create personalized pixel art for astronauts, and Mission Space Lab, where experienced teams tackle a real scientific experiment – calculating the speed of the ISS using the Astro Pi’s sensors.

Astro Pi is a fantastic way for educators to inspire the next generation of digital creators and space explorers. To register your teams and access the free resources, visit astro-pi.org.

Image above shows UKSA Astronaut Tim Peake holding the Astro Pi Mark 1 on the ISS.

Italian innovative startup expert in aerospace mechanical design engineering in space liquid propulsion aims at building a consortium of European SME for answering the ESA open call DEMISABLE TANK AND FILLDRAIN VALVE FOR CUBESAT PROPULSION (EXPRO+) expected to be issued in October 2025. The consortium now has three companies and they are searching for a partner for Co-leading, specifying tanks and valves for 16U Cubsat and manufacturing/integrating satellites with tanks & valves for demising simulation and interfaces.

The searching italian company already works in space activity and propulsion with knowledge on material for low temperature application or high temperature applications, metal and plastic as well as ceramics. The company is able to act as Leading Partner and knows perfectly the ESA rules.

No commercial fill and drain valves has been identified for the space sector that is publicly documented and qualified as designed specifically for “design for demise” (D4D).

Reputable manufacturers offer reliable space valves for fill/vent/drain but do not report design or qualifications to ensure safe demolition or consumption in atmospheric reentry.

See this partnering opportunity on the EEN website

The Accelerating Investment Export Pathway is a UK Space Agency programme, supported by KPMG, that is specifically designed to support high-potential, early-stage UK space businesses in expanding into international markets.

This programme offers:

• Targeted Training: Practical workshops on market entry strategies, international procurement, and export readiness, tailored for the space sector.
• Expert Guidance: Support from leading technical experts and international market specialists.
• Global Reach: Preparation for Department for Business and Trade missions and navigating complex international trade landscapes.

Further details on the programme can be found here, including eligibility criteria and how to apply: Unlock Your Global Potential: Accelerating Investment Export Pathway for UK Space SMEs.

Spaces are limited, and the application window is short, so we encourage interested companies to review the attached information promptly.

The East Anglian controlled environment construction specialists reached new horizons with their ground-breaking Biotech facility for Oxitec in Djibouti

THE GUARDTECH GROUP are changing the face of international cleanroom provision for UK companies – having recently installed a ground-breaking Biotech facility in Djibouti, East Africa.

The contamination control experts, who are headquartered in Suffolk but boast a new large-scale manufacturing facility in Norfolk, designed and constructed a 330sqm non-classified Biotech lab for Oxitec.

After a lengthy shipping process, that saw the 11 pre-fabricated cleanroom container modules change vessels three times and stop off in Europe and the Middle East, the Cleancube facility was eventually installed in a desert compound in Djibouti.

Oxitec scientists will now use the laboratory to work with genetically modified mosquitoes, with the aim of reducing the number of malaria-carrying female insects in order to combat the spread of the deadly disease in the territory.

The experience has come with numerous difficulties, but the end result has made all the effort worthwhile for Guardtech Commercial Director Mark Wheeler, who revealed that the project was essentially undertaken as a ‘non-profit’ exercise for Guardtech.

He said: “The client’s budget was restricted – they were working from high-profile international charitable donations, so our approach was to find a way to make it work and to support the client’s aims.

“This has been what we’d consider a cost-neutral project – we weren’t looking to make money from it. For us, there were bigger and wider objectives we wanted to achieve.

“Working in Africa comes with significant challenges, and each country presents its own. Djibouti, for example, is incredibly hot – our team was working in temperatures around 40C. We had to adjust to night shifts and find ways to keep as cool as possible. On top of that, the infrastructure doesn’t always support construction well – utilities have to be routed in, drainage has to be brought in and electricity can be hard to come by. Despite those challenges, the project has been incredibly rewarding because of its objectives – potentially saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in East Africa.”

Wheeler and the Cleancube team are now planning to use everything they’ve learned from the project to take the brand forward in the international market.

For him, the future is “exciting” – citing the “ripple effect” it could have beyond the project.

“Could it spread further into the rest of Africa? It’s possible,” he added. “We’re actually already working on other malaria-related projects in the UK. This feels like a first step – a small but significant start.

“The potential is huge. We’re fortunate to work on a range of life-saving projects, whether in healthcare settings like chemotherapy processing suites or in emerging technologies such as battery systems that positively impact livelihoods. There’s a lot of excitement about what’s ahead, and this feels like the beginning of something very promising.”

Wheeler praised the immense effort from Associate Director of Manufacturing, Michael Burton, and the Cleancube team for the countless hours they spent on making the dream become a reality, including overtime shifts over the 2024 Christmas period to ensure the modules made it to Africa on time.

“The team were amazing – really amazing,” he continued. “Djibouti is a challenging environment, both for construction and scientific work. The idea behind this Cleancube was to have a module that

meets British standards and compliance requirements, but that can also be shipped using the standard shipping network. The container is certified after being manufactured in the UK, then broken down into individual components.

“It’s the same principle for any international Cleancube project – it’s shipped overseas and reassembled out there in the territory. The advantage is that around 90-95% of the build – mechanical, electrical, and architectural – is completed in the UK, here in Norfolk. It’s then disassembled, shipped through the normal network and reconnected onsite.

“The Cleancube format is attractive because the modules conform to standard shipping classifications. Other, more bespoke modules can be much more costly to ship. That’s one of the key reasons this construction approach was chosen for the Djibouti project and why it’s sure to become a really attractive prospect for more and more international clients in the future.” For more information on the Guardtech Group’s various solutions, email sales@guardtech.com, visit www.guardtech.com or call 0330 113 0303. To discover more about Cleancube Mobile Cleanrooms, visit www.cleancube.co.uk – or to book a Cleancube Showroom, call 0330 113 0303 or email sales@guardtech.com.

Copyright for all belongs to Oxitec

Innovate UK has just opened the Made Smarter Innovation: SME Resource and Energy Efficiency Competitions for UK manufacturing and technology developer SMEs.

The focus is on digital solutions to reduce waste or optimise energy use to streamline manufacturing processes. The funding aims to accelerate manufacturing companies’ digital transformation journey by boosting productivity, sustainability, and resilience in businesses. The projects will be led by technology developers – for industrial research projects, they must partner with a minimum of two manufacturing SMEs. 

As the scope will be on resource and energy efficiency, we thought it might be useful to share with your MSA networks.

Funding Available

•     Strand 1: Feasibility Studies: £25,000 – £150,000 per project

•     Strand 2: Industrial Research: £200,000 – £1,000,000 per project

The deadline for funding applications will be Wednesday 10 December 2025 11:00.

If participants would need support with their applications, or if they wish to meet potential project partners, there will be organising five drop-in sessions which they can attend – registration.

There are new AI courses for Norfolk and Suffolk businesses or people who work in the area and one that focuses on project management, AI and data visualisation:

AI Literacy

This is 16-week course, half a day a week and aimed at junior to early in career team leaders.

This course aims to enable all learners, regardless of starting point, to drive AI adoption within their business ethically and with a robust AI policy. Students will learn AI literacy skills to work effectively in the changing, ever more AI driven, landscape of business.

As it is funded by Skills Bootcamps – businesses under 250 employees only pay £190 + VAT, instead of £2,000.

TO FIND OUT MORE CLICK HERE

Leadership and Management: AI and Digital Transformation

This course is one day a week for 10 weeks, with two weeks of in-business focus (so leaders are only out of their business for 8 weeks).

This course aims to enable all leaders, regardless of starting point, to drive AI adoption within their business ethically and with a robust AI policy.
Students will explore what Machine Learning and AI really means in a modern context, exploring innovation and adoption frameworks, alongside the art of the possible in adopting these technologies in your business. Working alongside other leaders, you will discover what can be achieved in your business and how to implement it.

As it is funded by Skills Bootcamps – businesses under 250 employees only pay £300 + VAT, instead of £5,000.

TO FIND OUT MORE CLICK HERE

Digital Innovator: Project Management, AI, Data & Data Visualisation

This course is two days a week for 10 weeks.

Students will develop transferable mindsets and systems, which will help you utilise a powerful range of project management and digital operation tools to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving space. From building customisable AI agents to practising engaging presentation skills, from demystifying spreadsheets to wrangling data for visualisation; you’ll become an indispensable asset to your organisation.

As it is funded by Skills Bootcamps – businesses under 250 employees only pay £330 + VAT, instead of £5,000.

TO FIND OUT MORE CLICK HERE

Airbus will be opening the new Airbus Launchpad in early 2026 – a collaborative high-tech lab and workspace designed to accelerate innovation, partnership, and SME development within the UK’s space ecosystem.

🌍 Whether you’re an SME looking for a workspace within a thriving aerospace environment for a 6 month residency or shorter, or an organisation interested in supporting this initiative – Airbus would love to hear from you!

Located in Stevenage, this new facility will serve as a hub for collaboration, creativity, and capability-building, with a range of lab facilities including robotics, AR, VR and rapid prototyping to strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in space innovation.

Supported by the UK Space Agency’s Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund (SCIF), the Airbus Launchpad will provide a dynamic environment where small and medium enterprises, start-ups, and research organisations can work alongside Airbus experts to co-develop the next generation of space technologies.

👉 If you are interested, please complete this short form to express your interest by COP 6th November: Airbus Launchpad – Expression of Interest

An initiative of the Airbus Community for Space Prosperity – connecting, inspiring and growing the UK space sector