Proposal for space testing centre set for decision

Bradford could be home to a space testing facility if a £9m scheme is agreed by the council.

The Space Test North centre could create 50 jobs and establish Keighley as "a nationally important hub for space technology", according to the proposal.

Bradford Council will decide whether to approve a grant of up to £4.5m from the Local Regeneration Fund towards the overall cost of developing the new site at Providence Park.

Space Test North would provide specialist radio frequency and environmental testing for space and satellite hardware, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Andrew Judson, lead member for economy, planning and regeneration, described the plans as "a genuinely exciting opportunity for Keighley and for the whole of our district".

"We already have a strong and growing space, radio frequency and advanced manufacturing cluster across the Aire Valley - but crucially, this is about people as well as technology," he said.

"We are being asked to make a strategic investment in Keighley's future as a place to create and innovate, strengthening our position as an emerging UK space hub."

The facility would cover about 1,400 sq m of industrial testing space and 200 sq m of training space, equipped with specialist technology.

It would include a vacuum chamber, thermal chamber, humidity chamber and a vibration table to recreate conditions encountered in space, the plans say.

A report described the £9m project as "a rare opportunity to secure a globally backed investment that would create the North's only space testing facility".

The site would also "generate high-skilled jobs, develop local talent and establish the district as a nationally important hub for advanced manufacturing and space technology," it added.

The local authority's contribution to the scheme would be funded entirely from its £19.8m Local Regeneration Fund, formerly known as the Levelling Up Fund.

At an executive meeting on 8 September, members will be asked to provide a grant to company MPG Europe's BSC Filters Ltd, a brand under Dover Corporation's MPG operating company.

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