Space industry fights COVID- 19

As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the space sector is on hand to aid in the fight.

In the UK, a fund of £2.6m has been made available to the space industry to help fund high-tech products which might aid the NHS response to the pandemic. These projects include a satellite system helping GPs conduct virtual consultations and software which can diagnose cancer more quickly.

Elsewhere in the world, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who normally build spacecraft are instead designing new ventilators specifically designed for COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, colleagues at Armstrong Flight Research Center have designed a special pressure helmet to treat those with more minor symptoms. “The current circumstances challenge the space business community to show just how much it can offer, to help us through this once in a century event. Speed is of the essence, so let us act without delay,” says Nick Appleyard, from ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications. bit.ly/space- agency

As part of the UK’s response to COVID-19, Airbus Space is helping to produce 40,000 face shields for the NHS