The STARLASE project will develop a world-first "multi-mission capable" high-power optical transceiver to address the global need for high-speed optical modems and high-power laser amplifiers to underpin the expanding Space Based Laser Communications market. This market is growing exponentially, forecast to exceed £3.4 Billion by 2031 and is fast becoming an essential part of global communications infrastructure The number of satellites on orbit is projected to grow from ~5,000 to 50,000 in the next decade, the majority of which will use lasers for satellite communications. Laser communication will be used to move vast amounts of data in orbit and then to beam that data back to Earth, directly into existing ground fibre networks. Laser communications will enhance security, reduce delays and augment existing radiofrequency-based systems. The expectation is that Lasercomm will help deliver wide socio-economic benefits to a global audience, many of whom do not yet have reliable ground-based internet access. Large numbers of compact, portable, low-cost Optical Ground Stations (OGS) are critical to enable satellite-to-Earth data transfer globally because this guarantees that satellites can always see an OGS somewhere in the region of interest.The STARLASE project addresses the urgent need for low-cost, compact and power-efficient electro-optic modules that will enable a UK sovereign capability and global leadership in the rapidly growing Space Laser Communications market.

Surface cleaning tasks, in the home, offices, shop-floors, shops and hospitals, all utilise chemicals, abrasives and consumables. Through their manufacture, packaging, shipping and disposal, these consumables impact the health of our planet, making significant contribution towards rising global carbon emissions. Imagine a cleaning process that doesn't use water, chemicals or abrasives and involves no consumables or packaging whatsoever? WSL's Eye-safe Laser-cleaning (ELASER-RHZ) is a game-changing technology that will disrupt the global cleaning services market, providing sustainable, low-carbon cleaning solutions for industrial, commercial and domestic cleaning markets. WSL have developed prototype systems at TRL5 and have demonstrated these on customer-supplied samples. These systems have been further integrated with robotics and machine vision to demonstrate automated, eye-safe cleaning for the circular-,etals economy, providing a route towards achieving parts-rejuvenation within the automotive sector. Pre-commercialisation support within the COMPLASE project will fund engineering development and industrial testing to achieve fully compliant certification of ELASER-RHZ for industrial application, including compliance to EMC and product safety directives, testing to laser and electrical safety standards. A successful project will enable WSL to meet the demands of early-adopter industrial customers needing eye-safe laser-cleaning solutions for their applications. Fully compliant, eye-safe laser-cleaning technology will establish world-first sustainable, low-carbon footprint cleaning solutions, manufactured within the UK and exported globally.

Approximately 23% of a petrol vehicle's lifetime carbon emissions are generated during its production and this value increases to 46% for a wholly-electric vehicle. To minimise carbon emissions and transition towards a zero-carbon economy, it is essential that we find a way of maintaining our used vehicle stock on the road for as long as possible. "Green" automotive parts, extracted from end-of-life and written-off vehicles are lower in cost and have minimal environmental effect. Despite this advantage, used parts represent less than 0.3% of the global automotive parts market. There are significant barriers to the adoption of used parts, based on concerns about quality and origin of manufacture. The LASERCLEAN-CE project will seek to address this issue, by developing an innovative, automated system to rejuvenate used automotive parts, adding value and increasing the speed of transition towards a Circular Economy within the automotive sector.

The HALIDE project addresses the global challenge to achieve clean-growth by developing game-changing laser technology that will totally disrupt industrial laser-cleaning markets and enable use of laser-cleaning technology within publicly-accessible spaces. Providing 10X power increases over commercial state-of-art, the project will develop novel optical fibres and MegaWatt, pulsed high-power lasers that will uniquely position UK manufacturing at the forefront of high-growth laser-cleaning markets.

Everyday cleaning activities, whether in the home, offices, shop-floors or hospitals, all utilise chemicals, abrasives and consumables. Through their manufacture, packaging, shipping and disposal, these consumables impact the health of our planet. Can you imagine a cleaning process that doesn't use water, chemicals or abrasives and involves no consumables or packaging whatsoever? The ELASER project will develop a game-changing technology that will disrupt the global cleaning services market, providing green (water-free and chemical-free) cleaning tools for industrial, commercial and domestic cleaning markets.

With energy and water prices soaring there is a constant drive towards more energy efficient and water efficient laundry technology within the home. The average domestic washing machine uses approximately 50 litres of water and consumes 1KWhr electricity per wash. At more than 270 washed per year on average, water usage is staggering, with the US domestic market alone consuming more than 1.3Billion tonnes of water per year. Woodrow Scientific Limited has been established to address this need, inventing methods and apparatus that will revolutionise domestic cleaning processes and technology. The company’s technological approach will eliminate the use of water and detergents from 75% of textile cleaning processes. Furthermore, the cleaning processes will eradicate the need for drying and can offer a “clean-clothes” solution within minutes – a significant consumer lifestyle benefit in today’s society. LIRON is the first step in developing the technology for this >£1Billion global market. The LIRON project will enable the company to demonstrate the performance benefits of its unique technology and to leverage further investment required to exploit this technology globally. Successful delivery of the project objectives will be a significant enabling step in forming a UK manufacturing company to exploit a global expanding market.