ARIA: Enduring Atmospheric Platforms - concept papers

Backed by at least £50m, the overarching goal of this programme is to provide a path to low cost, regionally scalable, high performance infrastructure for advanced communications and enable the anticipated £13 trillion to £20 trillion annual economic benefits of AI. This will be achieved through seeking a technological approach, agnostic to solution, that can reliably suspend and power communications hardware at the right place in the sky. Success will be measured by a single, galvanising demonstration: the continuous delivery of 300 W of power to a payload at altitude for a full week, while maintaining line-of-sight contact to a fixed ground point. Every project we fund must move us closer to achieving this galvanising demonstration.

This programme addresses the challenge of achieving ubiquitous, resilient connectivity by establishing a regionally scalable, high-performance alternative to orbital systems. Success enables low-cost, direct-to-device communications that current Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations struggle to support practically, creating a UK-led, sovereign capability in advanced communications infrastructure.

We invite applications from interdisciplinary teams that bridge fields such as aerospace engineering, advanced materials, energy generation, energy storage, and autonomy. We welcome proposals from scientists and engineers at universities, research institutes, startups, and established companies, as well as from individuals.

The programme is open to a wide range of individuals and organisations:

• TA1: Deep tech labs (academic & private) in fields like: aerospace, sensing, robotics, power beaming, weather modeling, aerodynamics modeling, advanced manufacturing
• TA2 is for larger teams, primarily led by UAV manufacturers, engineering companies, and startups, but also established companies and universities, who can develop and test the full system.
• TA3 is for small or large organisations or even individuals. It could include visionary technologists, think tanks, philanthropies, deep science venture capital firms, communications service providers, government agencies with good commercial intuition, and industry experts with experience in relevant applications (such as communications, aerial imagery, PNT, or other advanced sensor or photonics solutions).

Our primary focus is on funding those who are based in the UK. However, funding will be awarded to organisations outside the UK if we believe it can boost the net impact of a programme in the UK.

For the full scope, read the call for proposals on ARIA’s website at the link below.

Scope for TA1: Develop game-changing enabling technologies that if developed, make the development of a full system comparatively low risk (e.g. advanced energy storage, power beaming, atmospheric harvesting, novel airframes).

Scope for TA2: Develop, integrate, test, and field demonstrate systems (airframes, power, control) that can sustain the target payload specifications.

Scope for TA3: Design the architecture of a solution that exploits the developments of TA2 to deliver transformational capability. Manage the technical, regulatory, and commercial challenges to plan for deployment.

We are not looking to fund:

• Single-Condition capabilities: Efforts unlikely to deliver more than a ‘sunny day’ capability that merely works under optimal conditions. The solution must demonstrate viability in real operating conditions typical to the UK.
• Efforts predominantly using solar power to achieve endurance: We will not fund efforts that rely primarily on incremental improvements to solar-battery endurance, as this area is extensively explored elsewhere. Our focus is on disruptive steps to sustain power when solar is unavailable or insufficient.
• Outdated architectures: Lighter-than-air vehicles where buoyancy is the sole principle of action, or airframes/technologies that are unlikely to fulfil programme targets, including the post-programme operational targets.
• Incremental approaches: We’re looking for step-changes in capability, not incremental improvements of existing.
• Orbital systems: Orbiting systems, including air-breathing VLEO satellites, are out of scope.

The programme will run for 3.5 years. All projects will start as soon as the funding agreement is in place. The maximum term of the programme is 3.5 years, though applicants are strongly encouraged to propose plans which may reach success or failure on faster timelines. Individual projects within each TA are awarded as grants/contracts with Go/No Go milestones.

The total proposed budget for the Enduring Atmospheric Platforms programme is £50 million, allocated across three synergistic Technical Areas (TAs) and a programme partnership element. The majority of the funding is dedicated to TA1: Enabling Technologies (£6.1m across c. 8 projects) and TA2: System Integration & Testing (£37.7m across c. 8 projects).

All TAs will employ a phased down-selection model, allowing us to initially fund a broad portfolio of high-risk concepts and then concentrate investment on the most promising pathways as they mature. This core technical work is supported by TA3: Deployment and communications architecture planning (£3.1m across c. 5 teams) to ensure a clear path to real-world impact, and a dedicated £3.1 million partnership element to provide all creators with critical support, such as access to flight test sites and regulatory expertise.

Concept Papers are designed to make the solicitation process as efficient as possible for applicants. By soliciting short concept papers (no more than three pages) ARIA reviewers are able to gauge the feasibility and relevance of the proposed project and give an initial indication of whether we think a full proposal would be competitive. Based on this feedback you can then decide whether you want to submit a full proposal.

If you miss the deadline for submission of concept papers you can still submit a full proposal. However, we strongly encourage you to submit a concept paper. On average, 64% of applicants awarded funding submitted concept papers.

ARIA have a live teaming tool that allows applicants to find complementary expertise. After a quick registration, you can browse other researchers and request an introduction from the ARIA team to explore potential collaborations. You can register at the link below.

You can request reasonable adjustments if you need help when engaging with ARIA (for example, participating in a Programme Director’s discovery process, providing feedback on a published document, or attending a workshop). If you think you might need help, you can contact us at accessibility@aria.org.uk to discuss your individual needs.