The plan would see £100m in grant funding for the UK’s space sector with an additional £60m from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) UK-backed Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme.

In particular, the funds are being targeted at improving connectivity in remote and rural parts of the UK, which typically face considerably worse speeds than their urban counterparts.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space is filling up with satellite constellations from the likes of Starlink and OneWeb that aim, when complete, to give total broadband internet coverage around the world.

These constellations – which are more resilient and harder to disable than ground-based infrastructure – have already ensured reliable connectivity for Ukraine following the attempted invasion from Russia.

The Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit scheme (CLEO) is designed to build on the UK’s growing satellite industry by providing UK researchers and businesses with financial support...