Shares in EnSilica PLC (AIM:ENSI) jumped 5% after the UK chipmaker won a £10.38 million UK Space Agency award to develop a new type of semiconductor chips for future satellite broadband user terminals, such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper.
The Oxfordshire company, which specialises in making mixed signal ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), received the three-year funding award after making an application that put forward a business case supported by letters of interest from potential lead customers.
It is aiming to develop what it calls "a family of semiconductor chips to support future generations of best-in-class, highly integrated, mass market satellite broadband user terminals".
"In addition, the project will provide a resilient and secure source of chips which is independent and not tied to specific satellite service operators," EnSilica said.
It cited target constellations including OneWeb and the planned European Union IRIS2 multi-orbit constellation and a fast-growing market for satellite user terminals demonstrated by Starlink, with each ground terminal requiring hundreds of specialist chips to create an electronically steerable antenna.
The UK Space Agency funding will pay for up to half the cost of the overall project, with payments to be made against milestones achieved over the three years of the project.
EnSilica CEO Ian Lankshear said: "We believe satellite communications is an incredibly important sector for EnSilica and one that is fast expanding globally.
"This funding will enable us to advance our technology and bring innovative solutions to the satellite broadband market, with the project expected to be hugely beneficial to society, offering resilient internet connectivity in times of crisis, as well as providing high-speed internet connectivity in remote communities not well served by terrestrial networks."