The UK government, though the UK Space Agency, is to fund a project that will use satellite analytics to track the greenhouse gas and pollution emissions of shipping fleets.

The project – a collaboration between start-up company Redshift Associates Ltd and the University of Leicester – is one of five specifically designed to bring together UK business expertise with universities to help build space solutions to global problems in the UK.

The collaboration will develop analytics to track the carbon and pollution emissions of ships, with a new approach to establish emission audits of shipping fleets and their individual vessels. The project builds upon previous work developing analytics solutions for ports and harbours, extending this to coastal and international waters.

Commenting on the funding, UK Science Minister, Amanda Solloway, said: ‘The UK’s space sector is flourishing and it is vital we give our most innovative space businesses and universities the right support to collaborate, share best practice and drive forward new ideas that could help enrich all our lives.

Solloway added: ‘Today’s funding will provide lift off to some of the country’s most ambitious space collaborations, accelerating potentially game-changing technologies that will help the UK respond to global challenges such as cutting carbon emissions.’